Forever Angel
by Lily Morin
Summary: The last time Rose Tyler looked she was totally and completely human...right? What could a fair, fireworks and an old friend do to prove that wrong? TenRose, Full summery inside.
1. Fireworks

Summery- The last time Rose Tyler looked she was totally and completely human...right? What could a fair, fireworks and an old friend do to prove that wrong?

This takes place right after "Satan's Pit'

Chapter One -o- Fireworks

"Oh yeah, we're going down" The Doctor said as the TARDIS shook uncontrollably. Rose held on to the side of the ship and tried to make her way to the Doctor trying not to smile at the look of confused joy on his face. It was funny to her, how much he seemed to enjoy their crash landings. She was sure he got a kick out of where the TARDIS sent them.

"Going Down?" She asked as the ship tipped to the left then right throwing her back and forth as she tried to hold on to no avail. "Crash landing?" She yelled over this new screeching noise the TARDIS was making.

"Yep" He yelled looking up at her with a smile that covered his whole face. "Where do you think we'll land?" He asked after the screeching subsided and left an eerie quit behind. He _had _put in specific coordinates, but he had a feeling this was going to be one of those times the TARDIS went where she wanted to.

"I don't know" She said shaking her head a small smile on her face as well. The ship seemed to have straitened itself out and she let go of the side and took two steps towards him. "Somewhere fun I hope" She said a smirk on her face now.

"Don't I always take you somewhere fun Rose Tyler?" He asked feigning a hurt expression. She laughed and the sound of it rang through the control room making him smile.

"Course you do" She said nodding her head with a big smile on her face. A second later the ship seemed to lose it's footing again and it jerked forward then it seemed to go into rocking spasms knocking Rose completely off balance and throwing her towards the Doctor who caught her and smiled. He always loved the feeling on her in his arms. Then they hit the ground knocking both of them on their asses, well, Rose was on her ass, the Doctor was now laying on top of her looking down at her. Rose was sure, for a moment, she heard female laughter, the TARDIS must think this was all very funny.

"I think we're here" He said smirking down at her, her face so close to his that he could feel her breath on his face. His hearts sped up a little and she smiled.

"Yes we are" Rose said nodding her head and wincing. 'Oh damn' the Doctor thought worriedly 'hurt already and we haven't even left the ship.'

"Did you hit your head?" The Doctor asked reaching around her head with his left hand to assess the damage himself.

"I'm ok" She said smiling at him, touched by the concern in his eyes. "Course I can't move my legs" She said wiggling her eyebrows at him. For a moment he looked concerned then laughed. Rose wiggled her hips and legs and smiled. "Oh, never mind, they move fine" The look on the Doctors face was priceless. Her movements sent shivers up his spin and he blushed furiously before jumping up off her as if she had shocked him. It was so funny to her how fast he could go from totally flirting to shy and demure in seconds.

"Sorry" He said smiling down at her. Rose held the sigh in as he reached down to help her up. "Shall we see where we came out?" he asked when she was standing next to him.

"Sure" She said nodding her head convinced he was totally oblivious some times. He walked over to the coat hanger and pulled down his and Rose's coat and smiled.

"Restful and relaxing or stressful and exciting?" He asked before he reached for the door. Rose took her coat from him and smiled.

"Restful and relaxing?" She asked then started to giggle as he started to laugh too. "Yeah, thought not" She said pulling her coat on as he opened the door and stepped out with her right behind him.

"Ah, London." The Doctor said smiling over at her. Rose looked around but it didn't look like any London she'd ever been to. "Let's see, looks to be around the year 2237" He said after a small look around.

"How can you tell?" She asked looking up at him with a smile on her face.

"It says so right there" he said pointing up at a large neon sign above what looked like some kind of bank. He turned and watched Rose as she took it all in. It thrilled him every time they came to a new place, or time, just to stand and watch her take in all the wonders.

"11 December, 2237" Rose said as the date flashed again.

"Oh" The Doctor said looking over at Rose. "One day before Britain's 37th anniversary of winning back its freedom" he said smirking knowing she was wondering who they'd won their freedom from. "I bet they'll be firework" He said sounding like an excited 10 year old.

"Won back its freedom from who?" Rose asked as they walked towards what looked like a huge fair in the middle of the city. The Doctor reached over and took her hand and squeezed it.

"America" The Doctor said simply, it surprised him sometimes, he had shown Rose so many things and yet, she could still be surprised, he loved that about her. Rose looked up at him a little shocked and the Doctor nodded. "So let's see here" He said as they approached the ticket both. "Safety inspectors or VIP?"

"Safety inspector" Rose said in a low voice a few feet away from the both.

"Right then" The Doctor said letting go of Rose's hand. He walked up to the both and smiled at the petite women behind the counter. Rose stood a few feet back, acting like an assistant would.

"We're here on a routine safety inspection" he said smiling brightly at her. "You know, don't want anyone getting hurt, especially on a day like today" He pulled out the psychic paper and flashed it at her.

"Of course Sir" She said nodding her head a big smile on her face. "We certainly don't want any accidents, but I'm sure you'll find our fair is perfectly safe"

"I'm sure" The Doctor said nodding his head at her in a halfway patronizing voice. He and Rose walked through the large gate and Rose gasped at the rides on the other side of the large wall.

"Wow" She said looking around at the hovering rides and the_ real_ flying bumper cars.

"What?" The Doctor asked smirking. "230 years in the future you didn't still expect a tilt-a-whirl did you?" Rose smiled up at him and pulled him towards the closest ride, which just happened to be a roller coaster, sort of. No tracks and very little car, people seemed to be held in by some kind of invisible force field, it was called the Rapid Rider.

-o-o-o-

Three hours later and they were eating the very best hot dogs in the known universe, at lest that's what the sign said. Rose ate hers and marveled that in two hundred year they still had fair food like hot dogs. She said as much to the Doctor and he smiled.

"Some things never change" he said smiling at her. She nodding her head and smiled back taking his hand with her free one.

"Some things"

"So, where to next?" He asked after he finished his hot dog. He took Rose's wrapper and his and threw them away. He looked around at all the rides in the vicinity, they had been on all of them.

"Actually, I need to use the ladies room" She said looking up at him.

"Feeling ok?" he asked worried that she may have eaten to much after that last ride, nothing but rocketing up then dropping at break neck speeds, he was sure one of his hearts had jumped up into his throat.

"Yeah" She said nodding her head. It made her feel so secure knowing how much he worried about her. "Just need to powder my nose"

"Right" He said nodding his head. "Its down passed the Rapid Rider, and to your left. I saw it when we got off the flying bumper cars" The Doctor said smiling at her. "I'm going to be in the Mars petting zoo"

"Ok" She said nodding her head then she turned and ran towards the roller coater. He watched till she turned the corner and he couldn't see her anymore. He walked towards the Mars petting zoo, which showcased animals from Mars and its two moons. He heard load laughter coming from inside the large room crudely shaped like a barn, it was meant to be an authentic 21's century fair. He walked in and saw a small group of men, and other aliens standing around another man whose back was to the Doctor.

"So, that's how I got a hold of an authentic Barbarac multiplier" A very familiar voice said, there were a few murmured 'Ah' and 'oh' as the man nodded. "It'll be going on the block in the big auction tomorrow night" He said and everyone nodded then the group began to disperse.

"Jack Harkness" The Doctor said and the tall dark haired man turned around and smiled at the Doctor. The Doctor was a little surprised to see him standing there all...alive. He was sure the last time he'd seen him he'd been very dead. _"I bring life"_ the Doctor could hear Rose saying after she absorbed the vortex, had she brought him back to life? Well obviously she had. Ah, his Rose and her miracles, the Doctor smiled.

"Do I know you?" Jack asked looking a little confused, and maybe a little worried.

"Sure do" The Doctor said realizing that Jack didn't know this face. "Been a while"

"Seems I'd remember a face like that" Jack said a charming, almost sly, smile on his face as he bounced his eyebrows once. "Well I'm sure it's good to see you again"

"Did I hear you say you had a Barbarac multiplier?" The Doctor asked wondering if he was pulling the same con again. He saw Rose come in from the other side of the barn. She saw him and smiled waking over, the Doctor could see when she began to recognize the back of who she was looking at.

"Sure do" he said nodding his head. At the sound of his voice Rose's eyes got big and a huge smile broke out over her face.

"Does it work?" The Doctor asked smirking, at Rose but Jack didn't know that.

"Cause we don't want you trying to sell us another worthless piece of flying garbage" Rose said nonchalantly, he spun around and looked down at Rose.

"Rose!" He said after a few seconds of shocked silence. He picked her up and swung her back and forth.

"Jack" She said laughing as he put her back down.

"Doctor" the Doctor said as Jack turned to face him.

"Doctor, Doctor who?" he asked 'this couldn't be The Doctor' he thought eyeing him warily 'he looks completely different.'

"Exactly" Rose and the Doctor said at the same time both with huge smiles on their faces.

"I'm missing something" Jack said looking from the Doctor to Rose. "Rose?"

"This is 'The Doctor'" She said smiling at him. She walked over to the Doctor and smirked. "Newer modal." Jack still looked completely lost and Rose smiled. "He had to regenerate about eight months ago, general time" She said smirking she reached out and took the doctors hand.

"Oh" Jack said nodding his head, and then he shook it. "Wait...Regenerated?" He asked still obviously confused.

"Yeah er..." Rose looked to the Doctor.

"In order to save the world Rose took in the heart of the TARDIS. The Vortex was killing her, so I took it into my self-

"By kissing me" Rose said smiling at the Doctor. He nodded and she rolled her eyes.

"Wow, how horrible" Jack said smirking looking over at the Doctor as if in sympathy.

"Shut it you" Rose said flushing a little now.

"And no one is supposed to have that much power inside of them, so, I died. In order to cheat death" here he smirked a little, as if very proud of himself. "Time Lords can create a completely new body with nothing the same but his memories"

"Yeah, you seem a bit more...chipper then...before" Jack said looking at Rose.

"It's ok" She said smiling. "I was a little...taken back by it too"

"So" The Doctor said giving Jack a disapproving look. "A Barbarac multiplier? Is this the same old con?"

"Nope" Jack said shaking his head. "I really have a working Barbarac multiplier" Jack said smiling. This didn't seem to make the Doctor feel anybetter so Rose had to know what it was they were talking about.

"Sorry, a what?" Rose asked looking between the two.

"It's a device that can multiply a power source by 100 fold, it can be a very dangerous device in the wrong hands" The Doctor said looking over at Jack.

"And also it's one of the last ones in existence." Jack said proudly. Rose nodded her head but the Doctor still looked disapproving. "Look I wouldn't let it be sold to just anyone" Jack said looking at the Doctor who looked unconvinced. "There's a clause in the contract that they have to sign before they can have it, plus I've looked over all the people who put in their names for the bidding and they're all very good men, and aliens" Rose smiled as Jack tried to convince the Doctor that he wasn't back to his old ways.

"Have you been on any of the rides?" Rose asked smiling at him when he went silent. The Doctor didn't look as disapproving as he had and Jack smiled, sure that, for now, he wasn't going to get a lecture.

"I haven't" he said looking to Rose "Not much of a...fan" He said looking a little green as he looked up at one of the rides.

"What, you can fly a bomb, rescue girls in your space ship and go up against a group of Daleks but you're too scared to go on an itty bitty roller coaster?" She asked the teasing in her tone quite clear, maybe even a little exaggerated. Jack looked at Rose; he knew a challenge when he heard one.

"Right then" He said looking at the Doctor the green ting still there. "Which ones have you been on?"

"All of them" The Doctor said smiling at him. Jack looked to Rose who nodded her head in confirmation. He looked around them at all the rides and his green got a little worse.

"That's ok" he said taking a deep breath. "Which was the best? The scariest?"

"The best one was that thing that threw us up into the air and kinda played catch with the little capsule we were in" Rose said looking over at the Doctor who nodded very entertained by this show of machismo by Jack. He had _almost _not let her talk him into that one and it had been the scariest, but also the most fun he'd ever had on a ride.

"Ok, let's do that again then" Jack said taking Rose's hand and pulling her towards the two tall towers towards the back of the fair. The Doctor agreed to go on it with them as there was room for up to four people in the capsules. Jack didn't look _too_ bad when they got off, though he wouldn't have any ice-cream with them.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Jack ended up walking back to the TARDIS with them later that night. There had been fireworks, the likes of which Rose had never seen before. She was excited for tomorrow night because the Doctor had said 'That was nothing, wait till tomorrow' before taking her hand and smiling at her. The three of them were now talking about what Jack had been up to since they saw him last.

"So when I woke up alone on Satellite 5 I was a little concerned" Jack said looking over at the Doctor.

"Sorry 'bout that, I thought you were dead and I was about to regenerate" The doctor said smiling at him.

"Understandable" Jack said nodding his head. He took a bit of the pie Rose had gotten at the fair and smiled. "I do love a good apple pie"

"Those aren't apples" Rose said smirking at him. "So what did you do after you woke up and realized we'd gone?"

"We'll I got back down to earth and built a new time machine, of course it's not quite as good as the TARDIS here"

"Obviously" The Doctor said nodding his head.

"Well then I started traveling again. No more cons though, that's a lesson I only have to learn once" He said and they all thought back to their first meeting. "Wondered if I'd run into you two again along the way"

"I'm glad we did" Rose said punctuating this with a yawn. The Doctor looked over at her as she finished yawning and was taken-a-back. There was something in her eyes, something he didn't recognize, it was a kind of sadness which was a little odd. She had seemed happy all day, riding all the rides and laughing. Rose stood and smiled at them and the look in her eyes was gone, for a moment he wondered if he'd imagined it but there was something about the way she was smiling that made him sure he hadn't.

"I'm going to go to bed" She said looking at the Doctor and Jack. "Night boys" She said blowing them both a kiss then turning and walking out of the kitchen. Jack turned to the Doctor and was surprised by the lost look on his face.

"Heavy thoughts?" Jack asked and the Doctor looked up at him.

"No" He said shaking his head. "Just...a part I need to look at" he said standing and walking out of the kitchen leaving Jack there alone wondering if he'd missed something.

-o-o-o-

The Doctor opened a panel and slid down under the controls and began to fiddle with something he thought might have been the cause of their crash landing that morning. He pulled off his coat and jacket and threw them up onto the floor and began to think back on the day. Rose hadn't seemed sad or worried at all. She had seemed very carefree all day. It was not something he was use to seeing in her, they seemed to always be in trouble and it was hard to be carefree when being chased by one bad thing or another.

They had been talking about leaving Jack on satellite 5 when he noticed the look. Was she feeling guilty about leaving him there? Or was she thinking about why they had left him there, his regeneration. Was she thinking about the old him? He was sure she didn't long for the old Doctor now. It wouldn't surprise him if she thought about him, hell he thought about him himself, but did she miss him? They had been through a lot together in the last few months and he was sure she was as comfortable with him, if not more so, then his old self. But was there some part of her that wanted him back? The Doctor pulled himself out from under the control panel and was a little started to see Rose sitting there on his coat smiling at him with two cups of tea in her hands. She was in her pink PJ's, they had little white bunnies on them; they were his favorite.

"I thought you'd gone to bed" he said smiling then reaching out and taking the cup of tea from her.

"I did" She said nodding her head. "I thought I might have to wait all night before you came out from under there" She said smiling at him, but he noticed, it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Why didn't you say something?" He asked sitting on the edge of the grate a few feet away from her.

"Didn't want you to hit your head again" She said shrugging, about two weeks ago Rose had wondered in calling for the Doctor then heard a loud 'thunk' sound as his head collided with something underneath the panel. He's had a bump the size of a large egg for days.

"Thanks" He said smiling at her. That look was back and the Doctor was torn between ignoring it and asking her what was wrong. She was tired but had come down here with tea anyway; maybe she _wanted_ to talk about what was bothering her.

"Jack's gone off to find his room" She said smiling at him. "I told him all his old stuffs still there"

"You think he'll find it?" The Doctor asked smirking at her, it was no secret that the TARDIS liked to move things around, rooms included.

"After a while, I'm sure she won't play with him for to long" Rose said nodding her head. By 'she' Rose meant the ship and the Doctor smiled. By now he was pretty sure she had something to say, he just wasn't sure if he was going to like it.

"I thought you were tired?" he asked looking down into his cup, it had been a while since he's had plan old Earl Grey.

"I was"

"Not now?" he asked looking at her untouched tea.

"It's good to see Jack" She said confusing him a little. She wasn't prone to sudden jumps in conversations, at lest not often.

"Yep" he said nodding his head. "I'm a little worried about that auction tomorrow though. A lot of very bad people are going to want to get their hands on that power amplifier and no amount of contracts and background checks are going to stop them." He stopped talking abruptly when he looked up at her, she seemed to have tears in her eyes. "Rose?" He asked now very concerned. He put his tea down and scooted over to her.

"I almost lost you" She said looking up at him, the tears were falling now, though she wasn't crying, not really.

"What, when? I'm right here Rose" He said putting his hand on her shoulder. "Right here"

"No" She said shaking her head. She felt so silly; this was going to ruin everything. She almost shook her head stood up and left but the look in his eyes begged for an explanation. "Back there, on that _hell _planet. I could have lost you there; you would have been sucked into that black hole." Now he understood, she was scared for him. He had almost been left on a desert planet when the TARDIS fell into a deep dark hole in the earth.

"I'm ok" He said pulling her into his shoulder. "We're both fine"

"I know" She said nodding her head. This had all started today on one of the rides. It was a haunted house of sorts, only much worse then any she had been on as a kid. Very real seeming ghosts and goblins and a very real, very scary looking devil at the end. It look, to her anyway, like what that hell beast would have looked like down there in the pit. Thinking of that thing alone down there with the Doctor had made all it had said come crawling up to the surfs. She was scared, for herself and the Doctor. "I know you're here and I'm here and we're both fine, and now we've found Jack again. But all I can think about is what would have happened if I'd been forced to leave you there" She looked up at him, she meet his eyes, once so unfamiliar, so...alien. Now they were as familiar as her own eyes.

Later, when she thought back, Rose wouldn't be able to say just what finally broke inside her head _or _heart, but something definitely broke as all at once she had her hands on his shoulders and she was kissing him. Pulling him towards her, hanging on to him like her life depended on it.

Needless to say the Doctor was a little surprised when her lips almost collided with his. It had happened so fast and yet in his mind he could see it, over and over in slow motion. And this wasn't like the 'saving her life' kiss or the stupid 'Cassandra' kiss. This was what kissing was supposed to be about. This was passion and heat and fear all wrapped up into one soul searing kiss.

And then it was over and Rose was on her feet blushing furiously. Her head was bowed and she was shaking it slowly back and forth. 'Of all the stupid things to do' Rose thought furiously hoping she could escape without totally shattering their undefined friendship into millions of pieces.

"I'm sorry" She said still not looking up at him. By now the Doctor had stood up and was looking at her. It had been a good long time since anyone had kissed him with any kind of emotion behind it. This had gone on for so long; little looks, small flirting, holding her hand when ever possible. Things he had never really seen any point to till Rose came along.

"You kissed me" he said finally deciding on pointing out the obvious, just in case she had missed it. She nodded her head but wouldn't look up. After another few seconds Rose looked up, her face looked a little less red and she looked a little calmer.

"Look" She said in that 'listen to me' voice of hers. "I'm going to go to bed, and then I'm going to get up in the morning and we're both going to forget that happened" She said taking a deep breath. She took a few steps towards him, small steps, as if she was a little unsure of her own footing. When she got close enough to touch the Doctor reached out and captured her arm with his hand.

"Is that what you'd really like?" He asked a look on his face she had never seen before. He was searching her face for something and Rose didn't know if she wanted him to find it or not.

"Yes, no, I..." Rose said taking a deep breath. She was about to open her mouth to clarify when she found she no longer could. The Doctor was now kissing _her_. His hand came up and cupped her cheek and the hand on her arm pulled her closer to him. He released her arm and put his it around her waist while one of her arms went around his neck. She placed her other hand on his chest and wasn't surprised by the fast beat of his hearts. Rose was sure that in all of time and space no once had ever been kissed like she was being kissed right then. When he finally pulled away a minute last Rose was flushed again and had a small wistful smile on her lips.

"You kissed me" She said looking up into his eyes. The Doctor chuckled and nodded his head. Rose still had her hand on his chest and was now rubbing small circles in his shirt that were making the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

"Rose" he said softly and her name on his lips sounded different then it ever had before. She reached up with the arm around his neck and ran her hand through his hair. She wasn't sure what was going on yet, but she was sure it was headed in a good direction. He pulled her into his arms, one arm over her shoulder and one around her waist. With her head on his shoulder she was more relaxed then she had ever been in her whole life she smiled and sighed in contentment.

"I love you" She heard his whisper, at first she was sure she had just imagined the words. "Rose" he said pulling her back a little. "I love you" She just nodded her head as tears ran down her cheeks.

"I love you too" She said after a moment. "I always have" He nodded his head a small satisfied smile on his face. Rose took his hand in hers and smiled.

"Come on" She said pulling him towards the door. "Its bed time" She said smiling coyly at him.

"Are you tired?" he asked following after her, he noticed she was going towards her room.

"Nope" She said shaking her head.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Rose opened her eyes to a strange noise. She was silent for a moment trying to figure out what it was before she realized it was the Doctor, he was snoring. Some how, she hadn't thought he'd be a snorer. His arm came around her in his sleep and Rose was a little surprised how unlike most guys he was. He was so gentle and kind, patient and sweet. But there was a layer of passion and lust in him she had never seen before, she liked it. She put her arm over his and curled into him, drifting back to sleep almost instantly.

When the Doctor woke up he felt a little groggy, it had been a good while since he slept, period. He was surprised at first to find himself laying next to Rose, a very naked Rose. It didn't take more then a second before the night before came back to him and he smiled. He brushed away a piece of hair and she smiled in her sleep. He wasn't sure if this had been a good idea. Telling her he loved her had been, not something he would have normally done, he was more apt to keep things inside. There was just a lot about this that was going to hurt, him and rose. Not that he regretted it, he would treasure last night with him forever. And that was the hard bit about this. Forever. She could give him her forever, but he could never give her his. He wasn't sure what this meant and he certainly didn't know what he was going to say when she woke up, but for the moment he was content to watch her sleep.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Jack whistled as he made his way to Rose's room. He had been up early, and, not knowing what to do with himself he'd made breakfast. He had a tray with eggs, of some kind, toast and orange juice, and a cup of tea. He had made the Doctor a plate too, but he couldn't find him anywhere. Of course in this place there were plenty of places he could be, so he'd left the Doctor's plate in the control room, where the Doctor was most often found. When he came to Rose's door he thought about knocking but decided a surprise breakfast in bed would be more fun.

"Rose" he said opening the door. "Room servi- He stopped dead in his tracks at the two very naked people lying in Rose's bed. Rose had the blanket pulled up under her arms and the Doctor 'The Doctor!' had the blanket barely covering his lower half.

"Hi Jack" Rose said smiling at him, a slight pink tint on her cheeks.

"Well now" Jack said looking from Rose to the Doctor, his eyes lingering on both of them for a few moments. "This is new"

"Is that for me?" Rose asked looking at the tray of food. "I'm famished"

"I bet" Jack said winking at the Doctor. The Doctor seemed to be a little stunned, dazed maybe. "So, how long have you two been shaking up?" He asked giving Rose the tray and sat on the side of the bed propping his feet up on a chair.

"Actually-" Rose stared, after taking a bite of the eggs "Just last night" She said smiling at the Doctor who smiled back at her, both obviously remembering last night. Jack coughed a few seconds into their staring contest. Rose looked over at him and smiled.

"So, was this one night thing or-

"Jack" The warning tone in the Doctor's voice was clear. He stood up and put his hands up in mock surrender. "Sorry, minding my own business" He said with a small smirk and a wink at Rose. Rose smiled at him as he walked to the door. He stopped before he opened the door and turned around. The Doctor knew before Jack even opened his mouth that he didn't what him to speak.

"Well Rose?" he asked tilting his head a smirk on his face, she seemed to know just what the question was insinuating to because she nodded her head and smiled big and wide.

"Fantastic!" She said laughing at the look on the Doctor's face as Jack disappeared behind the door.

"So?" Rose asked looking over at him, a smile on her face, but the Doctor could see the worry in her eyes and he knew what she meant.

"Not" He said shaking his head in reference to Jack's earlier question about it being a one night. She smiled at him and nodded her head. She put the tray on her bedside table and turned to look at him.

"Well Doctor?" She asked winking at him.

"Fantastic"

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Neither of them said it, the unspoken time limit. Rose knew he was going to live forever, or close to, and she would one day, a blink of the eye to him, wither and die. But, she was sure, that it would be worth it if she could be with _her_ Doctor for how ever long she had. He held her hand as they walked from her room a little while later.

"I can't wait till the fireworks tonight" Rose said as they entered the kitchen where Jack was sitting reading a magazine.

"Didn't get enough fireworks last night?" Jack asked looking up at the two of them.

"Nope" Rose said wiggling her eyebrows. The Doctor took a cup off the shelf and got some tea, Earl Grey, his new favorite.

"So, are you two going back to the fair today?" Jack asked after a moment of silence. The Doctor looked over at Rose who smiled and nodded her head.

"Looks like" The Doctor said nodding his head. "We didn't really get a chance to see the booths, and they have some fascinating stuff sometimes"

"Be there for the auction?" Jack asked folding up the magazine and smiling.

"Yes" Rose said nodding her head, "I can't wait to see what this thing looks like"

"It's not all that exciting" The Doctor said walking over to her. "Kinda dull"

"Well, there's also the fireworks" Rose said smirking.

"Yeah, the fireworks should be good" Jack said winking at Rose as he stood up and headed to the door. The Doctor put his cup down and cupped Rose's cheek then smiled at her.

"Where to first?" He asked taking her head and leading her out of the kitchen towards the doors. Jack was already there waiting with his coat on.

"Come on you two" he said with a mock roll of his eyes. "We're not getting any younger"

"You know, I saw this booth yesterday that had the prettiest looking boxes, thought I might get one for my Mum" She said smiling at the Doctor.

"Well to the booths then" Jack said opening the door and stepping out the door closing behind him. The Doctor looked at the door and then down at Rose. She squeezed his hand and kissed him on the cheek before smiling.

"Come on then" he said opening the door for her. They walked through hand in hand.

That night they all walked to the auction house smiling and laughing about a mistake Rose had made about some alien technology. Rose got a chill when the doors to the auction hall closed behind them. She looked at both the guys, they didn't seem to notice. She knew though, seconds after they walked in, that this was not a good place to be, she couldn't explain it, even to herself so she keep her mouth closed and smiled. Later, she would wish she had said something.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Rose could feel the tip of the gun pressed up against her back. He head was spinning, the side of her head throbbing where the gunman had hit her with the back of his hand, hard. It had felt like a wooden beam slamming across her face. It was odd, that after everything to happen to them they'd actually get held up in a rather old fashion robbery. Of course they were stealing an alien device that would give them power times 100, but still, just a robbery; they even had guns, with real bullets. She knew they were just bullets and not some kind of lasers because they had gunned down two people already. She could see the Doctor talking swiftly to the man holding her arm, she knew the man must be talking too but all she could hear was a low buzzing in her ears, and she attributed it to the smack in the head she had gotten. She hadn't seen Jack yet and was afraid to think about what might have happened to him, she hoped he was ok. It took her a few seconds to realize the gun at her back was easing away from her. She strained to hear what was being said, the Doctor was talking to the one with the gun in her back, and he was listening, losing his focuses on Rose. Rose went over her assets in her mind, she had, well, nothing. '_Well the assets conversation went by in a flash' _She could hear Jack's voice in her head, she hoped again that he was ok. After a few moments of panicked thinking her old self-defense class popped into her mind. She and her mate Sheena had taken it few months before she met the Doctor. The gun had fallen almost completely away from her now and she wondered if she could take him by surprise, a weak little girl, the bad guys never expect any trouble from her. She looked over at the Doctor and smiled. It only took a second to jam her elbow into his gut, hard, he doubled over and she heard the gun clatter to the floor and smiled. She turned around and brought her knee up to meet his nose, she hoped she broke it.

She smiled as she turned and looked down at the Doctor, but the look on his face was one of horror. She didn't really feel it, it happened so fast. And then it was all she could feel, a blinding pain in her chest and stomach. She knew she must have been shot, that was new for her. Her hearing seemed to come back in a great wave of noise and now she could hear gun fire and shouts as she fell to her knees, she sat like that for a moment bringing her hands down to the bloody spots on her once blue shirt. 'This will never come out' she thought looking down at her shirt before slowly falling to her side. She blinked a few times as the gun fire stopped; she could now hear foot steps running as her head swam. Then it got really quite again and everything went a little black around the edges. She could see the Doctor, and Jack running towards her, she was happy to see Jack was ok. She tried to smile but wasn't sure if she did before her eyes fell shut and everything went black.

-o-o-

He knelt down next to her fearing what he might find when he touched her. Her hand was still warm and the small smile on her face made her look like she was just asleep. He turned her hand over and put his fingers to her pulse, only she didn't have one. She was gone. One minute standing in triumph and the next a crumbled ball on the floor. He could see the blood seeping out between her fingers and he tried to look away, but he couldn't not watch as the last of her life drained away. He could feel Jack behind him but he didn't turn around. He took her hand in his and shook his head. This wasn't how it was supposed to be, this could not be _her_ end. She should have had 60 year ahead of her, now she was nothing. He felt Jack's hand on his shoulder but he still didn't turn, couldn't take his eyes off of her. His Rose, gone.

"Is she..." Jack said even though he knew the answer.

"Yes" The Doctor said nodding his head. He thought about Jackie then, she was going to be devastated. She had been right, he couldn't keep her safe. Jack's hand tightened on his shoulder and the Doctor closed his eyes. She was gone, the life force that had brought him out of his self hatred. She was gone and all he could do was sit there and hold her hand. His eyes jerked open as he thought he felt her hand twitch in his. She was, she was moving her hand and her face kept screwing up, as if in pain.

"Doctor?" Jack asked looking down at Rose as she jerked.

"I don't know" he said shaking his head. He was sure she hadn't had a pulse, what the hell was happening? His eyes went to Rose's as hers fluttered open. She lifted her head a little and looked him in the eyes.

"Doctor" She said and he nodded numbly not knowing what to say. "It feels so strange"

"What does?" he asked a little more then confused now.

"Everything" She said before her eyes fell shut and her head fell to the floor. After a few seconds a bright light seemed to encompass her and he released her hand as he fell back on his butt. The bright light seemed to be shooting out of her, covering her from head to foot.

"No" He said shaking his head. Surly this wasn't happening, something else, something different, not this. It wasn't possible; there was nothing about this even remotely conceivable. He watched as her shoulder length hair began to lengthen and darken, her figure changed as her face was remade.

"Doctor?" Jack said watching and not believing.

"She's regenerating" He said not taking his eyes off of Rose as the light dimmed and was gone.

"How is that possible?" Jack asked as they both looked down at the new Rose Tyler. She had long dark red hair, her face was thinner, and when she blinked the Doctor could see she had dark green eyes now.

"How?" Jack asked as she looked up at the two of them.

"I don't know" The Doctor said taking Rose's hand again.

"Doctor?" She said smiling up at him. Her accent hadn't changed at all, and he noticed, when she smiled, neither had her mouth.

"Rose" He said softly smiling down at her. How was he going to explain this to her, he didn't even know what was going on. She reached up a hand and brushed away a tear from his cheek. She met his eyes and he could see it there, the comprehension, she knew, she knew what was going on, she understood. She knew just what had happened when even he had no idea.

"New, new Rose" She said slowly, smirking slightly before her eyes fell shut and she passed out.

"Wait" Jack said looking down at the Doctor as he slipped his hands underneath her and lifted her gently up off the floor. "What the hell just happened? I mean how is that possible?"

"It's not" The Doctor said as, in her sleep, she slipped her arms around his neck. He looked down at Rose and smiled. "She'll be ok, just needs some sleep." He looked to Jack who looked as lost and confused as he felt. "She's going to have questions when she wakes up" he said looking down at her serene face. 'Of course she may have more answers then questions' The Doctor thought smiling. But he kept that to himself as he thought everything over in his head. Jack nodded his head and looked down at her too. He should know by now, with the Doctor nothing is impossible, just improbable.

"Well let's see that she gets them" he said following the Doctor out of the room. The man who had shot Rose was lying on the floor, Jack had shot him the second he walked into the room, to late to stop him from shooting Rose, but he was dead now. The Doctor walked out of the room and Jack turned around before he walked though the doors. The man who had had the gun on Rose was lying on the floor; he seemed to be knocked out. Jack looked at the other two bodies, the innocent bystanders who got caught in the cross fire. He sighed turned and walked out the door.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-


	2. Q & A

Yes, there's more. And I know I skipped a big scene in chapy one, but I wanted to do a thing with it. You'll see... :-)

Chapter Two -o- Q & A

The first thing Rose realized when her eyes opened was that everything seemed to look a little different. This was her room, she recognized her stuff. But it was all still a little odd to her. She sat up and noticed how very, different _she_ felt too. She felt something in her chest, something _very_ new, so she put her hand to her chest and smiled. Two hearts, 'Wow' she thought putting both hands over her hearts. This was definitely new, new and very interesting. She understood what happened to her, probably better then the Doctor did. She could remember things now, things she had forgotten after the Doctor took the Vortex out of her. The TARDIS had spoken to her, told her what it planed to do, even asked her permission, sort of. Rose reached up and felt her hair, it was long, down to her lower back now, and she found she kind of liked it so long. She looked around her room and for the first time wished she had a mirror in here. She didn't want to have to go to the bathroom; she might run into the Doctor.

'The Doctor' she thought taking inventory of herself, very new experience. 'What did he think of all this?' She could feel like never before, it was like a whole world was open to her, and this was just her body. 'Was he mad or sad or was he happy? Could he be happy to finally have someone else to travel with, forever' Rose thought smiling as she stood up, a little wobbly, new feet and all. 'Forever,' she thought smiling as she walked back and forth a few times, getting a feel for everything new. Then she stopped and frowned 'Will he still want me' the thought popped into her head very unexpectedly. 'I am, after all, totally new, new everything. I'm not really Rose Tyler, at least not the one he fell in love with.' She sat down on her bed as tears swam in her eyes. 'So easy to tears now' she thought a little amused by herself. This _new_ everything was going to take a little getting use to. And all of a sudden her head felt very heavy and she needed to lie down again. She stared at the ceiling for only a moment before she was asleep again.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The Doctor was standing outside of her room looking at her door. He wasn't sure what he was going to say to her. He wasn't really any closer to telling her what happened. She was going to be scared and confused and he didn't have any answers for her, at least no good answers. He was sure this had something to do with the Vortex, and he was sure that it wasn't a one time thing, but other then that he had no idea _how_ it happened. He reached up to knock and stopped, for the third time now. He shook his head and took a deep breath. He knocked but was met with silence. 'She's still sleeping' He thought wondering if he should go in or not.

He finally decided on going in, just to check on her. He opened the door slowly and stepped in. She was lying in bed, on top of her covers; she must have been up since he left her in here. He walked over to her and pulled up a chair and sat down next to her bed. She looked so different; her long red hair was falling all around her shoulders and face, she was on her side with some of the covers pulled to her chest as if cuddling with them. Her face was longer and thinner then it had been all of her face was more defined now. He reached out and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear so he could see her better. She smiled and he pulled his hand away.

"'Ello" She said opening her eyes to smile at him.

"Hi" He said smiling back at her. He had been right before, her smile, even with a different mouth, was the same. She sat up and he noticed she moved a little different now, slower. She took a deep breath and he knew, 'here it comes' he thought steadying himself.

"Doctor" She said looking him in the eyes with her now piercingly green eyes.

"Yes?" he asked noticing the small flecks of gold in the green around the edges, they had to be the prettiest green eyes he had ever seen.

"Am I...ginger?" She asked with such a serious look on her face the Doctor couldn't help but smile. He laughed as he let out the breath he had been holding. He nodded his head as she smiled.

"Yes in fact you are" He said looking disapproving now. "And let me tell you, I'm a little jealous" Rose laughed and nodded her head and he smiled. It was so odd for him, but he now knew how she felt when he regenerated for the first time. Different but exactly the same, it was a little easier for him to see then it had been for her.

"How do I look?" She asked putting her feet down on the floor.

"Haven't you seen yet?" he asked looking around her room. "Ah, no mirrors" He stood up and held out his hand to her. "Come on Rose, I'll show you just how beautiful you are" She took his had a dark blush braking out over her cheeks as she stood up.

"How's Jack?" She asked as they left her room.

"He's ok" The Doctor said smiling back at her. "He's worried about you"

"I'm fine" She said smiling brightly at him. He could see it though, the doubt behind her eyes, they'd have to deal with that, and soon.

"He'll be glad to hear it" The Doctor said nodding his head. "We'll fine him right after I show you"

"Ok" Rose said nodding her head. He stooped a few minutes later and turned around to look at her.

"Close you eyes"

"What?" She asked smiling at him.

"Come on now, it's not very often I get to show you your new self" He said smiling so convincingly at her she nodded.

"Alright" She said closing her eyes. He took her hand as lifted it up; she smiled when she felt his warm lips kiss the top of her hand. Then he pulled her along whistling a song she couldn't quite place. Then he stopped and pulled her forward so she was standing in front of him. She felt his hands on her shoulders and she knew, even though she couldn't see him, that he was smiling.

"Ok, open your eyes" he said squeezing her shoulders. She opened them slowly; afraid of what she might see. She looked herself up and down twice before she could really take it in.

"I'm tall" She said looking back at him.

"Almost as tall as me" He said nodding his head. She looked back at the mirror and ran her hands over her cheeks. There was still a light blush to her cheeks and they were warm to the touch. She pulled her hands away from her face and looked down at them. She hadn't really looked at anything when she woke up the first time.

"Clean" She said looking down at her palm. "Totally unscarred" She took a deep breath and smiled. "I had this scar" She said turning away from the mirror now. "On my hand right here" She said pointing to her right hand under her middle finger. "I got it when I was about 10, I fell off of a swing at school, slashed my hand on a rock on the ground, my mum always said- She stopped talking and looked up at the Doctor. He had been waiting for that, but he would have done anything to get that look off of her face.

"Oh God" She said shaking her head. "Oh what is she going to think?" She asked looking down at her hand again. "I don't...I'm not..." The Doctor nodded his head as she looked up at him. "What am I going to do?" She asked as tears filled her eyes.

"We'll find a way to tell her, she'll understand. She'll see, at least your still here with us" Rose nodded her head but she knew it would not be that easy.

"This is so..." Rose shook her head as the tears began to fall. "I fell so different. Like I don't even know-

"Who you are?" The Doctor finished for her and she nodded her head. She realized then that he knew. He knew exactly how she was feeling. He knew what was going on inside her mind and body. He had done this over and over. And now she felt horrible about the way she had acted with him when he'd changed.

"Will this feeling go away?" She asked looking up into his eyes.

"In time" he said nodding his head. "You're a different person now Rose, you'll just need to find out who that is" He took her hand and smiled at her. "But you'll have plenty of help along the way." She nodded her head and whipped the tears off her face. Then she put her arms around him and buried her head in shoulder. His arms came around her and she sighed. She could do this; she could do anything as long at the Doctor was with her.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Jack looked at the array of food on the table and sighed. He _may_ have gone a little overboard here. There was food from every place, time and plant he could think of. He had been cooking for the better half of the day waiting for Rose to wake up. The Doctor had been working on finding out what had happened to Rose and Jack was just getting in his way so he decided to cook. It was a talent he picked up from his mother and one that not very many people knew about him. He heard foot steps coming towards the kitchen and looking around at all the food and smiled. The Doctor and Rose walked though the door and he blinked. He had seen her when she had changed, but it was a little different to have her standing there.

"Hi" She said looking up at him shyly. The look on her face said it all; she was worried about him and the Doctor. Worried they may not like her now, or that they'd treat her different. He smiled and looked around at all the food.

"Well I didn't have anything to do, thought you might be hungry-

"So you cooked everything in the kitchen?" She asked looking around at all the food. "Jack I have two hearts now, no two stomachs" He looked over at her and she smirked. She looked over at the Doctor and smiled. "Now that whole two hearts, that's going to take some getting use too"

"I would imagine" The Doctor said nodding his head.

"Right, well I didn't know what you'd like" Jack said smiling at him. "I mean from what the Doctor has said everything to nothing of what you liked before could change"

"Oh?" Rose said looking over at him.

"Well you saw how I was" he said smiling at her. "Rude and all" She laughed and nodded head. She didn't feel rude; she did however feel hungry. She took a deep breath and one sent caught her nose and she looked around. She took another breath and walked over to something sitting on the table. It was this pink goo with little green onion looking things in it.

"What is this?" She asked looking down at it. She really wanted to try it, almost couldn't stand there with out eating it.

"It's a dessert" Jack said smiling at her. Rose looked up at the Doctor who smiled. She sat down took the spoon off the table and tried it.

"Wow" She said smiling. "This is really good; do I even what to know what it's made of?"

"Nope" Jack said sitting down across from her as the Doctor sat down next to her. They were both watching her eat and she smirked.

"Would you two just ask your questions before you both have an aneurysm" She said, ok that was a little rude, she wondered if that was her or just run off from the Doctor. She didn't look up to see the looks on their faces. She found she didn't need to, not for the Doctor anyway, she knew he was smirking. There was a small buzzing in the back of her mind now, and she was sure it was the Doctor. He had once said he'd feel it if there were any other Time Loads left, this must be what he meant.

"Do you know?" The Doctor asked as she pushed the bowl away from her.

"It was the TARDIS" She said looking up at the ceiling. "She told me, when I had the Time Vortex in me, she explained what she was going to do, how she was going to do it, then she asked me if it was ok" She said looking down at her hands.

"Did this happen before or after you showed up at Satellite 5?" Jack asked looking at Rose. Before Jack went to cook, before he started getting in the Doctor's way, The Doctor had explained to him more about Rose taking in the Time Vortex. How she saved the world.

"Before, after, during" Rose said shaking her head and shrugging her shoulders. "I'm not really clear on that. I still don't really remember much about it. But I do know the TARDIS did this"

"And you agreed to it?" The Doctor asked and she looked up at him. She could see the shock on his face.

"Yeah" She said nodding her head. "The TARDIS could see, she sees so much more then you- we give her credit for. She could see how much we needed each other. But she could also foresee the problems there. So when I presented her with an option she took it."

"Wow" Jack said nodding his head. "That's...wow"

"Yeah" Rose said nodding her head a small smile on her face. She looked up at them and her head began to ach a little. "I think I need to lie down again" She said putting her hand on her forehead. She stood up and looked down at the half eaten dessert.

"Ok" The Doctor said nodding his head. He stood up and reached out to help her.

"I'm fine" she snapped pulling her arm away. "Sorry" She said looking up at him. "I just need to lie down"

"Ok" he said nodding his head. She turned and walked out. Jack and the Doctor watched her go. Jack looked up at the Doctor when she was gone. The Doctor looked a little worried.

"What is it?" Jack asked as the Doctor watched where she had just left.

"Nothing" He said shaking his head. He turned around and smiled. "Where to next then? That is, if your coming with us?" The Doctor smiled at him and Jack nodded.

"I just have a few things to take care of" Jack said standing up. "I'll be back in..." He looked down at his watch. "Three hours"

"Ok. When she wakes up I'll fine out where she wants to go" The Doctor said smiling at him.

"Ok" Jack said nodding his head. "See you in a few then"

"Right" The Doctor said nodding his head. Jack smiled then walked out. The Doctor stood there for a moment and waited. After a second he walked out into the control room to look a few things over.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Rose lied her head down on the bed and wondered why she had snapped at the Doctor like that. Was she just touchier now? But that didn't feel right, something was wrong, inside her. She couldn't find it, but there was something. She turned over as she thought about it, should she tell the Doctor? Had something gone wrong with her regeneration? If it had he'd be the one person who would know what to do. She rolled back onto her back and smiled shaking her head. She was fine, she was just tired, she was just making something out of nothing. She closed her eyes and thought about where they should go next. She was asleep in seconds.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Doctor?" She called as she slipped out of the room. She looked around and smiled a small sly smile. There was no one around. She was sure of it. This was new, this body, so different. With each step she took she could feel new things in her body. She took a deep breath and reveled at how it felt to _breathe_. She walked towards the control room hoping no one would be there. She just had to get a look at this fantastic ship. She peeked her head around the corner and smiled at the emptiness of the large round room. The ship was humming lightly and there was a buzzing in her mind that was a little irritating. She walked over to the control panel and ran her hands over the smooth surface. She didn't know how to fly it, not yet anyway. But she would learn. _He_ would teach her and then _she_ would know. How wonderful to have control over something as wonderful as _this_. She spun around suddenly when she heard foot steps coming from behind her. She closed her eyes and sighed, 'soon' she thought, 'soon.'

"Rose?" The Doctor said and her eyes flew open.

"Doctor?" She said looking around the room in confusion. "What happened?" She asked looking from the room to him. "How'd I end up in here?"

"You don't remember?" he asked a worried look on his face now.

"No" She said shaking her head she thought back. "I was asleep" Then it came to her and she smiled. "I must have been sleep walking" She said nodding her head.

"I've never seen you do that before" he said still looking worried.

"I did do, when I was younger" She smiled at him. "Mum had a hell of a time with it" She said smiling then she sighed and looked up at him. "We're going to have to tell her soon"

"I know" He said nodding his head. "Soon" He walked over to her and put his arm around her shoulder. "You should go back to bed"

"Right" She said nodding her head a smile. "Maybe...maybe you could stay in there with me to make sure I don't go wondering off again?"

"Of course" he said nodding his head a smirk on his face. He let go of her shoulder "I love spending the night with you Rose"

"Thanks" She said smiling at him as she took his hand.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_She didn't want to go now. There was something about this place. She could feel it as they walked in. Something very wrong, not that she knew what it was but it was there. She almost said something. Almost turned to them and told them. But she thought how silly it was, to be scared of a place. There was nothing wrong. Nothing scary, it was just a room, just an auction room._

"_When does it start?" Rose asked looking around at the stuff up on the stage. There were all kinds of things, paintings and sculptures of things she had never seen before. There was furniture and dishes of all shapes and sizes. And then at the end there was some kind of big metal machine. Rose assumed that was the Power amplify thing the Doctor and Jack had been talking about, she thought so only because there was nothing else that looked like a power amplifier, not that she knew what it would look like. She was guessing. She was sure she was right though. _

"_In about an hour" Jack said smiling down at her. "Right now people are encouraged to go around and take a look at everything. Find out if there's anything they want."_

"_Right" Rose said nodding her head. "Do we have any money?" She asked looking up at the Doctor._

"_Planning on buying something?" He asked smirking at her. _

"_Maybe" She said shrugging her shoulders. "I've never been to an auction before. Might find something I can't live without"_

"_Right" The Doctor said nodding his head. "Well you bid on anything you like, I'll let you know if you go to high" _

"_Fantastic!" Rose said nodding her head. She walked up to the stage and looked around at everything. There was a set of plates and cups that had the most interesting design on them, she was sure they were moving but couldn't tell how it was being done. She thought he mum might like them, and it was coming up on mothers day, at least, she was sure she could talk to Doctor into going back for mothers day. She turned around and saw the Doctor and Jack talking about something so she turned back to the plates and wondered how much they'd go for._

"_Do you like them?" A voice said over her shoulder and she jumped a little. She turned and smiled at the tall dark haired man standing behind her. _

"_I do yes" She said nodding her head. "I've never seen anything quite like it" _

"_Yes, they are quite rare" He said nodding his head. His hands were behind his back and he was smiling at her in a way that made her want to kick him in the shin. _

"_Will you be biding on them?" He asked looking around at everything. "Or was there something else you liked?" he asked following her eyes as they went to the power amplifier. _

"_Nope" She said shaking her head. She wanted to go back to the Doctor now; she looked down at them. There was something about this guy, something off. _

"_Do you know those two?" he asked looking down at Jack and the Doctor. _

"_Yeah, they're my friends" She said nodding her head. _

"_How...fantastic" he said dragging the word out. That had to be one of her favorite words, only because the Doctor said it so much, but the way this guy said it made her want to never hear it again. Rose smiled uncertainly and turned around to head back the Doctor when she felt a hand on her arm._

"_I think you should stay up here with me" He said the grip on her arm tightening. She opened her mouth to yell out for the Doctor when she felt something push into her back, something hard and cold, like a gun. Rose watched as Jack and the Doctor said something Jack laughed and then he turned and walked back out the way they had come. _

"_Ah, one down" he said sneering as he turned her around and looked across the room and another man standing across the stage. She saw him pull out a gun of some kind and point it at the Doctor. _

"_Doctor, Down!" She screamed out, and without any kind of hesitation the Doctor fell to the floor as the first bullets flew passed the place his head would have been. The other gunman shot the other two men in the room while trying to shot the Doctor. The man holding Rose pulled her so she was in front of him reached back with his gun hand and slammed it into her face. Stars burst in front of Rose's eyes and everything went fuzzy in her head. She looked down and could see the Doctor start to speak, he was saying things, things that were making the man lower his gun. Now or never, do or die, she brought her arm forward and then thrust it into his abdomen. Then she turned around and (hopefully) broke his nose when she kneed him in the nose. She turned to find the Doctor again and didn't understand the look on his face. Or why he seemed to be screaming her name._

"Rose!" She was being shaken. She sat up with such a force that she knocked heads with the person hovering over her trying to wake her. "Rose?" he said rubbing his head.

"Doctor?" She asked as tears welled in her eyes.

"I'm right here Rose" he said gathering her in his arms.

"They shot me" She said trying to hold back the tears. "I died!" She said sounding so unbelieving.

"I know" he said rocking her a little. "I'm so sorry" After a minute she pulled back and looked at him.

"What did you say to him?" She asked a very curious look on her face despite the tear stains.

"Say to who?" He asked looking at her.

"The gunman" She said leaning her head on his shoulder now. "He lowered his gun enough so I could hit him"

"Oh, that" The Doctor said nodding his head then he rested his chin on the top of her head. "I was hypnotizing him" He said smirking at the look that was sure to be on her face now.

"You can do that?" She asked pulling away to look at him.

"Sure can" he said sounding a little proud of himself.

"Is it like the 'you are getting sleepy' stuff?' She asked very interested in this thing that was taking her mind of everything else.

"No" he said shaking his head. "That's all trickery and a little fake, I really do it, got in their minds and stopped them."

"Oh" She said nodding her head. "Wow" He nodded his head and she laid her head back on his shoulder. She looked down at her hands for a moment and then up at him.

"I can't tell what's different about me" She said shaking her head, changing the subject. That didn't sound right. "I mean-

"I know what you mean" He said nodding his head a smile on his face. "It's different each time. I mean, you might not change a lot once then be completely different the next time. And your personality doesn't always have to change by leaps and bounds. Also how you are will have a lot to do with who you're with when you change."

"So I might be very much the same?" She asked nodding her head.

"Well aside for the long red hair, big green eyes and new face, you seem to be the same, maybe a little different" He brushed some of her hair back from her face and smiled.

"Ok" She said nodding her head. That would do for now. She wanted to look a little more closely at herself later. But she was sure a lot of the things, personality wise, would pop out at her when she least expected them.

"Where are we going next?" She asked looking towards her door.

"Well I thought we might let Jack decide" The Doctor said smiling at her.

"He's coming with us?" She asked excitedly. She pulled away from his and smiled. "Now you'll have a back up when we go to tell my mum" She said smirking a little at him, she was better but he could still see the worry in her eyes.

"No amount of people could save me from you mum" He said shaking his head. "She'll have my head"

"She won't be that bad" Rose said shaking her head.

"She will" He said nodding his head. "You'll see"

"Big baby" She said standing up and stretching. "Ok, so when do we leave?"

"When Jack gets back" He said smiling at her.

"Which is...when?" She asked smirking at him.

"In about an hour, I think" He said smiling at her as he too stood.

"Can we go somewhere before we see my mum? I don't really care where, somewhere exciting and far away?" Rose asked and he could see and feel the uncertainty coming off of her.

"Course we can" he said nodding his head. "We'll just ask Jack when he gets back then we'll be off"

"Fantastic" She said nodding her head smiling.

"Anyone here?" Jack called out walking towards Rose's room.

"Where do you want to go?" Rose asked coming out of the room pulling the Doctor behind her. It was still a bit of a shock every time he saw her, but he was sure it was lessening every time too.

"Backwards" He said smiling as she dragged the Doctor towards him. "Let's go to the past, way back"

"Ok" The Doctor said nodding his head a big smile on his face. He kissed Rose on the top of the head and then let go of her hand. "Back we'll go" He smiled at them then walked off towards the control room.

"Did you see that look on his face?" Jack asked looking over at Rose. She was smiling, mostly happy he could see. There was still something in her eyes he couldn't identify but he was sure she was working through it. And he was sure she knew, if she needed him, he was there for her.

"Yeah" She said nodding her head. "That's a good look, something fun is going to happen"

"That did not look like a good look" Jack mumbled to himself as he followed after Rose.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Ok" Jack said slamming the TARDIS door behind him after Rose and the Doctor were safely inside. "When I said to the past I meant like two maybe three _hundred_ years, not two or three _million_ years" Jack said looking at Rose who was breathing hard but had a smile on her face that made him think of the Doctor.

"I think he's rubbing off on you" Jack said to Rose then looked to the Doctor.

"Could be" Rose said nodding her head as she looked up at the Doctor. Her long red hair was now in tangles, with leafs and sticks in it from when she fell running from the very large hungry dinosaur. She stood up and started picking things out of her hair.

"Though I think from now on I'm going to braid my hair before we go out. Or put it in a bun..." She trailed off and smiled. "So many things I can do with it now" She said smiling at the two of them.

"I'm going to go take a shower" She said looking at the Doctor. He nodded and she sighed. "See you in a bit?"

"Yeah, I'll let you know when we get there" The Doctor said nodding his head as he headed towards the control panel.

"Thank you" She said nodding her head.

"Where are we going next?" Jack asked walking over to the Doctor.

"Earth, 2006" he said putting it into the computer.

"Why?" He asked pulling himself up onto the side bar.

"Rose needs to see her mum" The Doctor looked over at him and Jack understood. She had to tell her what had happened.

"How's her mum going to take this?" He asked he's never met Rose's mum, though he had heard she'd slapped the Doctor once.

"I'm going to go with not well" He said fiddling with something on the panel. He looked up at Jack and Jack winced at the look on his face.

"That bad huh?" Jack asked jumping down with a smirk on his face. "Well, good luck to you then"

"Oh you think so huh?" The Doctor said and Jack turned around and looked at him. "She wants you to meet her mum, _you're_ coming with us" The Doctor said and Jack could see he was enjoying this.

"Nope, think I'll stay here for this little adventure" Jack said shaking his head. HE took a few steps towards the doors and the Doctor chuckled.

"Ok, but you get to tell Rose that" The Doctor said turning back to the control panel. Jack cursed under his breathe and shook his head, he'd go, but he didn't have to be happy about it.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Half an hour later the Doctor knocked on Rose's door then opened it and walked in. She was sitting on her bed a frame in her hands. He sat down next to her and looked at the picture. It was one of her and her mum taken a good five years ago. Rose was smiling and Jackie looked to be giving her bunny ears. He put his arm around her shoulder and she looked up at him.

"Is she going to hate me?" She asked looking from the picture to him.

"No" He said shaking his head hoping with everything he had that he was right, that Jackie wouldn't hate her or him for that matter. Though he'd take her hate any day if it meant Rose didn't getting it. "She'll understand, it may take a while but she will."

"I don't know what I'm going to say" She said looking down at the picture again. She was doing a good job at holding back the tears and the Doctor smiled.

"I'll help you, I promise" He said squeezing her shoulder a little.

"I know you will" She said nodding her head and sighing. "I can do this" She said standing up. "I can"

"Course you can" he said nodding his head and standing up. He reached over and took her hand and gave it a light squeeze.

"Thank you" She said smiling at him hoping with everything _she_ had that he was right. She didn't know what she'd do if her mum didn't understand.

"You two coming?" Jack said appearing at the door. "I mean, if you've decided you want to stay that's fine too"

"Scared of my mum Jack?" Rose asked smiling up at him. "You can stay if you really want to"

"I'm not scared" he said shaking his head. "Just if...you're not ready"

"Right" She said nodding her head. "Let's go" She said leading the Doctor out by the hand Jack right behind them.

A/N- So what do you think so far? And no, Rose has no idea that she was out of bed. She thinks she was sleep walking...so, hummm? What could that mean? And how will her mum take it when she finds out? And what about Micky? So many questions...hehehehe


	3. Home

A/N- Ok, no more posting at 2 in the morning. I promise I'll do a better read over. :-) I don't have a BETA but if anyone's interested in the job give me a shout. So, on with the show!

A/N2- Oh and, silly me, I forgot this happens after The Age of Steel, so there will be no Mickey, sorry. :-)

Chapter Three -o- Home

Rose was standing in front of the TARDIS doors; she had been for about five minutes now. Both Jack and the Doctor were standing behind her, just waiting. She seemed to be working up to walking out the door, both the men were sure she'd do it, given a little time. She sighed and turned and looked at the two of them.

"Maybe we should call first" She said looking a little tired.

"Have you ever called first before?" Jack asked smiling supportively at her.

"No" She said shaking her head a defected look on her face.

"It'll just make her worry then" Jack said and she nodded her head and turned back to the doors. Her shoulders straitened and she nodded once then opened the door and walked through, the Doctor and Jack were right behind her. There was no one waiting for them on the other side, Jackie always came running when she heard the TARDIS coming. Rose looked back at them a little worried.

"Probably didn't hear us" The Doctor said smiling at her, hoping that was all it was. Rose nodded and headed towards her mum's apartment. She pulled out her keys as they went up the stairs. She wondered if she should knock, might be weird for her mum to have a total stranger walking in. She reached up to knock and heard something behind the door. It sounded like a blender.

"I don't think she can hear us" She said looking back at the two of them. She put the key in and opened the door walking in to the sound of a blender and rather loud music.

"I'm going to say, yeah, she didn't hear us" Jack said nodding his head.

"Mum?" Rose called wondering what her mum was doing, for a moment forgetting why they were there in the first place.

"Rose?" She heard her mum call and the music stopped along with the blender. "That you Rose?" She asked coming out of the kitchen carrying a glass cup. "What are you doing-She stopped as she looked over the three of them.

"Who the hell are you?" She asked looking from Rose to Jack to the Doctor. "Doctor?"

"Mum" Rose said taking a step towards her. "I need to talk to you"

"Mum?" She asked looking Rose up and down. "I've only one daughter, and you're not her" Jackie said shaking her head.

"But I am" Rose said nodding her head. "You need to sit down, we need to talk" Jackie looked to the Doctor again and he nodded his head, as much as she hated him for taking Rose away all the time she trusted him. She looked back at Rose.

"Rose?" she asked not sounding at all convinced.

"Yeah" Rose said nodding her head sadly. Jackie shook her head then the cup she was holding fell from her hand as her eyes rolled back and she fainted.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Well that went well" Jack said after they got Jackie on the couch and the glass all cleaned up.

"Shut it" Rose snapped glaring up at him. He took a step back from her.

"Sorry" he said feeling bad for his flippant tone. Rose nodded her head then walked into the kitchen and came back with a little capsule that she placed under her mum's nose then broke. Jackie gasped and sat up.

"You have smelling salt?" the Doctor asked looking at Rose.

"In the first ad kit" She said nodding her head. "Mum?"

"No" She said sitting up and backing away from Rose. "You can't be Rose."

"I am" Rose said nodding her head. She thought back in her memories for things to convince her mum with. "When I was seven I got lost in the shops for three hours" Rose said nodding her head. "And when Mickey's gran died he didn't come out of our bathroom for six hours, you made him pancakes so they'd fit under the door." Jackie was still shaking her head but with less conviction now. "When I was 10 I fell off a swing and cut my hand on a rock" Jackie looked to Rose's hand where the scar had been and then looked up at Rose.

"I've just changed a little" Rose said smiling at her. Her mum closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.

"How?" She asked opening her eyes and looking into Rose's.

"You remember last Christmas when I came home with the new Doctor?" Rose asked and Jackie nodded her head looking to the Doctor then back to Rose.

"We were in a tight spot before that, saving the world" Rose said reaching out and taking her mums hand. "I came back, he sent me back"

"To keep you save" Jackie said nodding her head.

"Right" Rose said nodding her head. "But I couldn't stay here and do nothing while he died"

"I know" Jackie said nodding her head as a tear slid down her cheek.

"So I opened the TARDIS remember?" Rose asked and Jackie nodded her head again. "I took in the Time Vortex, which is kind of what makes her run" The two men were standing back watching, both amazed at the emotion coming off both women. "And by doing that I went back to the Doctor and saved him, and the future."

"I know" Jackie said nodding her head then she looked at the Doctor briefly. "The Doctor told me; about how you saved the future"

"He did?" Rose asked looking to the Doctor who smiled slyly and shrugged.

"That Christmas, he took me aside and told me how proud of you I should be 'Our Rose saved the world' he said" She said looking to the Doctor again as something passed between them that Rose had never seen before, understanding.

"Oh" Rose said nodding her head happy to have her mum refer to her as Rose.

"Not that I need to be told to be proud of you" Jackie said looking back to Rose a slight smile on her face. "I've always been proud of you"

"And so she told me on Christmas" The Doctor said smiling at the two of them.

"I'm sorry mum" Rose said wiping a tear off her mum's face. "If I had known it was going to happen I would have told you"

"I'm still not clear on _what_ happened" Jackie said looking up at Rose. Rose had forgotten that part of the story was still untold.

"Sorry" Rose said nodding her head. "The TARDIS, she's alive in a way no other ship is alive. Sometimes I'm sure I can hear her, like she's talking to me without real words. She could feel us, and she knew how much I...How much I-

"Love him?" Jackie said smiling at Rose. Rose nodded her head and Jackie looked up at the Doctor with a look that said it all 'Hurt her and I kill you' was in there somewhere along with 'Take care of her.'

"And she could see how much he-

"Loves her" The Doctor cut in smiling down at Rose placing his hand on her shoulder. Rose smiled back and nodded her head putting her hand on his.

"So while I had a piece of the TARDIS in my head she asked if she could help us, by changing me" Rose closed her eyes and she could almost remember the voice in her head. "I told her yes, I didn't understand everything, but I got the idea"

"So, you're like him now?" Jackie said nodding her head looking up at the Doctor. She looked back at Rose and tilted her head to one side then reached out with her hand and placed it on Rose's chest. "Two beats" She took a deep breathe and Rose reached up and placed her hand over her mum's hand.

"You're going to live forever" She said without any kind of feeling in the words, more a statement then a question. Rose could see the hurt and fear in her eyes that hadn't been in her words though and it killed her.

"Yes" Rose said nodding her head. Trying not to cry, holding it back. "Or very close too"

"But it's really you in there?" Jackie asked looking into Rose's eyes.

"It really is" Rose said nodding her head.

"Ok" Jackie said nodding her head, she seemed to be thinking about something but Rose couldn't tell what it was. Jackie stood up and looked over at Jack. "And you are?"

"Jack Harkness" Jack said holding out his hand. Jackie reached out and shook it. Jack smiled and pulled her a little closer. "She's got your eyes now, did you see?" He asked turning her around a little. Jackie looked down at Rose and the Doctor who was saying something in her ear and smiled. He was right; Rose's eyes were the same, almost exactly the same. She smiled and nodded her head, different, but still part of her, still Rose.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Rose found her mum half an hour after a very quite dinner sitting in Rose's room, in the dark, crying. Rose knew her mum was mourning for the daughter that she had been, the daughter she had lost. Rose didn't begrudge her that mourning, in a way she had died, even if she was still alive and standing there, part of her was dead. She had mourned the loss of her first Doctor; she knew just how her mum felt. She wished she had the words to comfort her, to help to understand, but she didn't. Standing there watching this women who had raised her, crying, she felt like she had lost something very important too, and she knew, there was nothing she could ever do to get it back.

Rose walked away from her room to the living room where the Doctor and Jack were sitting on the couch talking in low voices. They both looked up when she walked in and smiled at her. There would be time later for her, time to mourn for herself and the girl she would never be again, for now there was these two smiling at her.

"What are you two up too?" She asked forcing a smile onto her face as she sat down in-between them. Both man put their arms over her shoulders and shrugged.

"I've got to say Rose," Jack said smirking at her "We're up to no good"

"I've no doubt" Rose said nodding her head smiling at him. She turned a few minutes later when he mum walked in, face dry and clean, with no evidence of tears on her face.

"How long are you three going to be staying?" Jackie asked standing behind the couch looking down at them.

"Actually Jack has some business he needs to see to, so we'll have to be going tonight" The Doctor said looking over his shoulder up at her.

"Ok" Jackie said before Rose could open her mouth to protest. She looked up at her mum then had to look away for the relief on her mums face broke her hearts. She jumped up off the couch and forced a very bright smile.

"Yeah, lots to do" She said nodding her head. She looked down at the Doctor and Jack who both stood up nodding their heads.

"Yep" Jack said looking over at Jackie. "It was very nice to have met you" He said smiling charmingly at her.

"You too" Jackie said nodding her head. He walked out towards the door and opened it but didn't go through.

"See you later Jackie" The Doctor said smiling at her. He too walked over to where Jack stood waiting.

"We'll try to come see you again soon" Rose said smiling at her mum. She wanted to reach out and hug her but she wasn't sure how her mum would react to that, so she just stood there smiling.

"Of course" Jackie said nodding her head Rose smiled and started to turn away. But Jackie grabbed her arm and Rose turned to look at her. "It's hard, you know?"

"I know" Rose said nodding her head.

"I still love you" Jackie said and Rose nodded her head.

"I still love you too" She said reaching out and taking her mums hand. "That won't ever change"

"Be careful" Jackie said and looked over Rose's shoulder at the boys. "You two take care of her"

"Will do" Jack said nodding his head smiling at her.

"Always" The Doctor said nodding his head smiling almost sadly at her, maybe remembering that he hadn't _always_ taken care of her.

"I'll see you soon mum," Rose said letting go of her hand.

"Ok Rose, take care" She said leaning forward and kissing her on the cheek. Rose nodded her head and walked over to the door and walked out with Jack and the Doctor. Her shoulders were tight and tense and she was looking strait ahead.

"Rose-

"No" Rose said shortly shaking her head as they walked towards the TARDIS. She looked over at Jack who had his mouth open to say something else.

"I don't want to talk about it" She said shaking her head, nothing they could say could fix this, nothing could, at lest, it seemed like that right now. "Not now" She said unlocking the door and walking through. Jack followed her inside in silence and the Doctor followed closing the door behind him. Rose didn't say anything to either of them before she walked out of the control room towards her bedroom.

"Do you think she'll be alright?' Jack asked looking at the Doctor.

"Yes" He said nodding his head looking at Jack. "We'll let her be, for now" The Doctor walked over to the control panel and started pushing buttons.

"Right" Jack said nodding his head. He smiled after a few seconds and followed the Doctor to the control panel. "So I have business to see to?" Jack asked sitting down along one of the bars.

"No" The Doctor said shaking his head. "But I don't think Jackie was ken on us staying there. She's got a lot to sort through just now"

"Right" Jack said nodding his head. He watched as the Doctor's hands flew over the controls and hoped Rose would be ok. "Where are we going?"

"No where" He said as the ship hummed low in the background. "We're going to float for a while, take a break"

"Ok" Jack said nodding his head. "I'm sure there's something that a person can do on this old ship"

"I wouldn't call her old" The Doctor said as Jack laughed. Jack walked down the hall and the Doctor laughed when, a few seconds later, he heard a loud 'thunk' sound then Jack swearing loudly, a few seconds later Jack came back around the corner scowling and rubbing his head.

"I ran into a wall" he said looking accusingly at the Doctor.

"Watch where you're going" The Doctor pointed out as if he were trying to help.

"I was in the middle of the hall, the wall wasn't there when I started down the hall" Jack said shaking his head still giving the Doctor the evil eye.

"I told you not to call her old" The Doctor said smiling sweetly at him. Jack just shook his head and walked away back down the hall. The Doctor ran his hand over the ship and smiled.

"Good girl" he said nodding his head.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The Doctor gave her three whole hours before he went looking for her. The first place he went was her room, she wasn't there. He looked in the kitchen, in the TV room and in the garden and she wasn't in any of them. He went to a few of the other rooms he could think of, but she wasn't in any of them either. He was starting to get a little worried till, standing back in the control room, he heard something drifting down the hall. It was music, low sad music. It was coming from the wardrobe. He was a little surprised to find her there looking through the clothes hanging every where, an instrumental song was playing on her little radio and Rose had a lost sort of look on her face.

"Hello" he said after she held up a very ugly purple shirt and grimiest at it.

"Hi" She said looking up at him as she put it away.

"What are you doing?" He asked walking over to her as she pulled something new out.

"Looking for my style" Rose said shaking her head at the dress putting it away. "First I went through my clothes" She shook her head a small smirk on her face. "None of its right, it's not...me" She pulled a long-sleeved blue button up shirt out and smiled nodding her head. She threw it onto a pile he hadn't seen before then went back to work. "I need something different, so I put my old clothes in here, and I'm taking a few things out"

"Right" The Doctor said nodding his head. He understood this compulsion well; he did it every time he regenerated, he needed something new to go with the new personality, new look, new him. She just kept pulling out clothes and putting them back or throwing them onto her pile. Busy work, he understood that too.

"Rose" he said and she looked over at him. He was sitting on a bench and he patted it. "Sit down with me a minute." She looked at the pants she was holding put them back and walked over to him. She sat there a moment looking down at her feet. He knew she wanted to talk, she just had to work her way around to it. Finally she looked at him with a look of loss on her face.

"It's never going to be the same, is it?" Rose asked looking up into the eyes of the Doctor; 'lie to me' her eyes were screaming at him 'quell my fears.' But he couldn't lie to her, and didn't.

"No, it's not" he said shaking his head feeling his hearts break as the sadness seemed to deepen on her face. "But it will get better, after a while." He took her hands in his and squeezed them. He had to make her fell better about this, it wasn't good to have all this gilt working through your body, that he knew all about too "And after a while she's look at you and see you for who you are, and not who you use to be"

"How do you know?" She asked hoping it was true, trusting in him to show her it was.

"That's easy" he said smiling cheekily at her. "Who do you see when you look at me?" Rose looked up at him and smiled when she understood what he was trying to tell her.

"My Doctor" She said nodding her head a soft smile on her face. She reached up and ran her hand down his cheek "Always, my Doctor."

"And someday she'll see her Rose" He said leaning forward and kissing her on the forehead. "It's just going to take time"

"And you?" Rose asked after a few moments of silence. "What do you see?' She asked her green eyes shinning with unshed tears as she looked up at him.

"I see Rose Tyler, the energetic smart ass that I fell in love with" She smirked at him and nodded her head. She was relived to hear him say it, in her hearts she had known it was true, but it felt wonderful to have him say it. "I know you're different, I know you'll change again, just like I will. But it will never ever change the way I feel about you"

-o-o-o-

Rose lay with her head on her pillow and stared up at the ceiling. The Doctor was sleeping next to her; his chest went up and down in a slow rhythm making her smile. It felt so nice to be here next to him, even if she couldn't sleep. The Doctor had told her before he fell asleep that he was going to show her a little bit about piloting the TARDIS tomorrow. Needless to say she was very excited. She turned onto her side and stared at him and wondered what he would look like next time. She reached out and brushed some of his hair out of his face and he smiled in his sleep. She smiled too and lay back on her back. She was so happy; neither of them would ever have to be alone again. She closed her eyes and finally fell asleep.

-o-o-o-

Her eyes flew open as his arm slid over her waist. She looked down at the hand in disgust. She reached out and gingerly lifted it off of her and put it down on his stomach. She looked up at the sleeping man and grimiest, first thing to go would be this useless lump. She slid out of the bed and looked around the room for a shirt. She wanted a better look at this ship; she had been interrupted last time. She reached for the men's over shirt on the chair and pulled it on; it hung down past her knees. She opened the door quietly and leaned her head out and looked around. There didn't seem to be anyone around. She stepped out and listened, nothing. She smirked as she walked down the hall. She went back over the day in her head and smiled as she came to the Doctor telling Rose that he was going to teach her to operate the TARDIS tomorrow.

She walked quietly down the halls taking turn after turn not really caring where she was going. She stopped and looked into the rooms as she came to them, some of them opened and some didn't. She was thinking about how long it was going to take her to take full control of this body, no more then two more days she estimated, and how hard it would be to take over the ship. Easier, she was sure, because these men trusted this face. She smiled when she opened a door and came to a room that had a pool, it almost took up the whole room, and there was about two feet of floor all around it that had a few chairs on it. And deep under the water doing laps back and forth was the other one 'Jack' she thought nodding. She smiled broadly as he touched the wall and started back to the other side without even coming up for air. 'Now this is more like it' she thought watching as he finally came up for some air 'might keep him around for a while' she thought sighing. She stood just inside the doorway so he couldn't see her. He pulled himself out of the pool and walked to one of the chairs and took a towel off of it and wrapped it around his waist. She smiled and slipped back out the door before he saw her. She rolled her shoulders and walked back the way she had come. She found her way to the kitchen and sat down in the chair. She laid her arms on the table and put her head on them and closed her eyes.

"Rose?" Jack said walking in a few minutes later.

"Wha..?" Rose said lifting her head off the table and looking around. "Jack?"

"Hey, what are you doing in here?" Jack asked opening the fridge and taking out some water.

"I don't...I'm not sure" She said shaking her head. She looked up at Jack a little closer. "Have you been swimming?"

"Yeah" he said nodding his head still looking a little worried. "Have you been sleep walking again?"

"Yeah" She said nodding her head sitting up a little starter. "I guess I have"

"Doctor's not doing his job very well" Jack said wiggling his eyebrows at her. She could still see the worry there though. It seemed to be on his and the Doctor's faces more and more lately.

"And what job might that be?" The Doctor said walking in looking between the two of them as he made his way to Rose.

"Tiring Rose out so she doesn't sleep walk" Jack said turning and smirking at him.

"Were you sleep walking again?" The Doctor asked sitting down next to Rose. 'Ah, see there it is' Rose thought looking up at him, 'Worry.'

"Yeah" Rose said nodding her head holding back the sigh. She was surprised when irritation rose up inside her at all their worrying. As if she was a child that needed constant watching over. She took a deep breath and pushed it back down and smiled at him "But I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" He asked putting his hand on hers. She nearly pulled her hand away but stopped herself. 'What the hell is wrong with me?' She thought nodding her head and smiling as best she could.

"Ok" The Doctor said nodding his head. He smiled at her then looked up to Jack. "I was thinking we could stay here for a while, I want to show Rose the basics to flying the TARDIS."

"That's fine," Jack said nodding his head. "I'd like to do a little exploring anyway"

"This is so exciting" Rose said before letting out a large yawn.

"Are you tired?" The Doctor asked looking over at her. 'I'm fine!' Rose yelled inside her head before looking over at him smiling.

"No" She said sounding weary of their questions. She shook her head and sighed. "Just, lots of midnight walking, you know?"

"Right" he said nodding his head. She sounded upset and he wasn't sure why. "Well, we'll have to see if we can't work on that tonight" He said trying to lighten the mood a little. Rose smiled and looked over at him, but the smile didn't seem to touch her eyes. She stood up and then sat back down very fast as a slight red came to her cheeks.

"What are you wearing?" Jack asked a little surprised. She never came out of her room in less then her pajama bottoms and top.

"Not much of anything it would seem" Rose said looking down at the shirt. She found it hard to believe she would have left her room looking like this, even in her sleep.

"I think that's mine" The Doctor said trying to make her really smile.

"Thanks" Rose said rolling her eyes; it seemed all he could get out of her was a feeble smile. "Jack, do you mind?"

"No, go ahead" He said leaning against the counter and smirking at her. He too was trying to make her smile, that shiny 'Rose' smile, but she just looked up at him and glared. "Just kidding" he said holding his hands up in mock surrender. "Have fun with your lessons" He said walking out of the kitchen whistling.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Six hours later and Rose was starting to catch on, more then that she was really starting to get it. She flipped a switch and smiled at the Doctor then she flipped another one. She raced around to the other side flipped a different one and then walked over to the monitor. She looked down at the screen and smiled.

"I did it!" She said looking over at him. He was happy to see that light back in her smile as she looked up at him. Whatever had been bothering her, it seemed to have passed. "Earth, 1628, America" She said smiling at him. "And we've landed safely" She ran her hand over the ship and smiled. "See how easy a nice soft landing is?" She said smirking up at him.

"She says that now" The Doctor said obviously talking to the ship.

"She just likes me better" Rose said smirking at him as she ran her hand over the controls. "Where to now?"

"I was thinking somewhere along the lines of, the kitchen, I'm starving" The Doctor said smiling at her.

"Ok" Rose said nodding her head. "I could eat" She smiled at him as she reached out and took his hand in hers.

"Do you think Jack cooked again?" Rose asked smiling up at him. The Doctor took a deep breath and smiled nodding his head. "I'd say it's a good bet"

"Why, do you think, didn't he cook last time he was here?" Rose asked as they entered the kitchen to find Jack pulling something out of the oven.

"Because," Jack said turning around to look at them. Rose snickered and the Doctor laughed out loud, Jack's apron said 'Kiss the Cook.' "There was a lot more running for our lives last time I was here, didn't really have much time for cooking" He said putting the food down on the table. Rose smiled as she let go of the Doctor's hand and walked over to him.

"Well good thing we're taking it easy for a few days then" She said leaning up and kissing him on the cheek. The Doctor walked over to Jack and kissed him on the cheek too smiling.

"Well, you did make dinner" he said sitting down next to Rose. Jack smirked as he sat down too.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Where've you been?" The Doctor asked sleepily as she slipped into the bed next to him. She didn't say anything as she pulled the covers up. He put his hand on her shoulder and rolled her towards him.

"Rose?" He asked looking down at her. Her eyes where closed and she blinked them open.

"Wha?" She said smiling lazily at him. "Somethin wrong?" She asked sleep evident in her voice.

"Where were you?" He asked as she blinked a few times.

"I was here" She said yawning; she reached up and covered her mouth.

"No" He said shaking his head. "You were out, I felt you get back into bed"

"Oh" Rose said obviously falling back to sleep. "Musta been sleep walking" She said quietly. She smiled at him and her eyes fluttered closed again. He just lay there looking at her. She was fast asleep again. Had she been sleep walking? She hadn't come back to the bed before, the last three of four times he'd found her sleep walking. He'd never seen her come back to her room before. The feeling in the back of his mind was starting too intensified as he lay there worrying. Something was going on, something he couldn't see yet. But there was something.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Rose got up early the next morning and was surprised to see the Doctor was still laying there next to her. He was almost always the first one up. She smiled down at him and lifted his arm up off of her stomach and laid it down softly, having a sudden feeling of déjà vu. She shook it off as she stood up and walked out of her room quietly. She went to the bathroom and turned the shower on. Maybe she could get ready fast and surprise both her boys with breakfast.

-o-o-

Forty minutes later Rose could hear footsteps coming towards the kitchen. She had the eggs and toast done and had the orange juice and tea all ready. Jack was the first one to walk in with the Doctor right behind him. They both looked tired and sleepy and Rose smiled.

"Hey boys," She said putting the eggs down on the table as they sat down. They both looked up at her and smiled.

"Morning" The Doctor said smiling at her. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah" Rose said nodding her head. "I feel very up this morning" She said smiling at him as she handed him some tea.

"How are you this morning Jack?" She asked handing him some orange juice.

"Good" He said nodding his head smiling too. "Doing some cooking?" He asked looking at all the eggs and toast.

"I was up" She said shrugging her shudders with a smile. She sat down next to the Doctor and reached out for the eggs. She blinked and seconds later Jack was standing at the sink cleaning the dishes. She looked to her left where the Doctor was leaning back in his chair smiling.

"Thanks for breakfast" He said leaning forward to kiss her on the forehead but she leaned away.

"What just happened?" She asked looking from him to Jack and back again.

"What do you mean?" The Doctor asked looking confused.

"We were sitting down to eat and then we were done, just like that" Rose said standing up looking at both of them.

"Rose?" The Doctor said in the 'are you feeling ok' tone of voice. Confusion etched on his face.

"Don't look at me like that!" She said looking from him to Jack, who had the same look on his face, the 'she's gone round the bend' look.

"I'm sorry" The Doctor the look turning to a very worried look. "Ok" He said looking at her taking a step towards her. "You were fine Rose" He said reaching out to her. "You talked to us both through out breakfast. You told Jack about flying the TARDIS."

"I don't remember that" She said shaking her head; their looks of concern were starting to grate on her nerves. "I don't remember _any_ of that!"

"It's ok" The Doctor said he reaching out taking her hand into his. He pulled her close and she let out a little sob. "We'll figure this out" he said as she rested her head on his shoulder. "I promise"

-o-o-o-o-

'Success!' She thought as she sat up in the bed smiling. She had taken full control while Rose wasn't sleeping. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and looked around the room. She was going to have a lot of things changed when she was in control of this ship. She stood up and walked over to the door and opened it. The Doctor was standing on the other side of the door.

"Rose?" He asked looking concerned. 'Honestly,' she thought trying not to roll her eyes. 'Does he have any other expressions?' She smiled at him and backed away from the door, inviting him in.

"Hello" She said glaring at his back as he walked in.

"Are you feeling ok?" He asked turning to look at her.

"Fine" She said shrugging her shoulders.

"I've been thinking" he said and she held back the laugh. "And I think your losing that time this morning could have something to do with your sleep walking."

"Do you think?" She asked faking a yawn trying not to sound bored to tears, which she was.

"Yes" he said nodding his head. Then he smiled and looked to the door. "Were you going somewhere?"

"Just going to get some water" She said going for her best helpless look.

"Oh" He said nodding his head. "Well why don't you lie down and I'll go get you one?" He asked smiling at her.

"Right" She said nodding her head. "Thanks" He smiled at her and nodded. He passed her and reached out and took her hand.

"We'll come up with answers, I promise"

"I know" She said nodding her head at him. 'Get out!' She was screaming in her head. He nodded then walked out the door. She rolled her eyes and walked back to the bed. She got in under the covers and smiled. By the time they figured out what was going on it would be too late. She leaned back and put her arms behind her head, life was good.

-o-o-o-o-

"Rose?" The Doctor called walking back into her room a few minutes later. She was in her bed her arms behind her head a small smile on her face. She looked to be asleep.

"Doctor?' She said opening her eyes as she sat up and smiled at him. "What are you doing here?" She asked happy to see him. He had taken her to lay down about an hour ago. They had been trying to figure out what was happening to her for the last ten hours or so.

"I brought you your water" he said holding out a cup for her.

"My water?" She asked looking confused.

"Yeah, you said you were going out to..." He trailed off at the look on her face. "You don't remember me coming in here, telling you what I had found out?" He asked and she shook her head. There were tears in her eyes as it dawned on her that she was missing more time.

"What's happening?" She asked fear rising in her voice.

"I don't know" he said loathed to admit it. He pulled her to him and hugged her. "But we will find out."

"I know" Rose said nodding her head wishing she believed it.

"You should sleep a little." He said looking back at her bed. "I'll stay here, see that you get some sleep"

"Ok" She said nodding her head. Then she looked up at him worriedly. "Won't you get tired?"

"I'll be fine" He said walking over to her bed with her. She didn't need much convincing, which worried him a little.

"Ok" She said nodding her head. She got into the bed and he sat down next to her. She smiled as he pulled the covers around her and kissed her on the forehead.

"Sweet dreams" he said and she smiled. She closed her eyes and he watched her as she drifted slowly off to sleep. He was sure that something was going on. He was also sure it had something to do with her sleep walking, he wasn't sure though, what made him so sure about all of this. He watched her sleep, she looked so peaceful and he knew he had to find out what was going on, and soon.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Ok" He said the next day around the breakfast table. There was no food, only tea and lots of paper, with notes and theories written all over it. "Last night I was telling you about how I think your sleep walking has to do with your lost time."

"I don't remember that" Rose said shaking her head trying not to let the fear nag at her.

"I know" He said nodding his head. He reached out and took her hand into his. "And I was thinking, what if you're not sleep walking?" He asked and she looked confused, as did Jack.

"What else could it be?" Rose asked seconds before Jack could say it.

"Well, you've been a little…off lately" he said trying for a reassuring smile. Rose nodded her head and he squeezed her hand. She could take it, whatever he thought was wrong, she could take it because she had them on her side. And she knew they could do anything together.

"I think you may be having some kind of problem with the regeneration" The Doctor said squeezing her hand again. That was just what she had feared he would say. Of all the things new in her life this new body was right there at the top of the list. She closed her eyes in fear. What if they couldn't fix her? Would she have to regenerate again?

"I have been feeling a little...off" She said opening her eyes and lowering her head as all the odd feelings came rushing back to her. "I thought it was just me adjusting but, I seem to be, irritable, moody and every once and a while when you take my hand, it feels like I want to shake you off." She looked up at him and tried to laugh, as if the thought of not wanting to touch him was ridiculous, which it was, but it only came across as a whimper.

"What could it be?" Jack asked looking from Rose to the Doctor.

"I don't know" The Doctor said shaking his head. He looked almost as lost as Rose felt, and that scared her almost as much as not knowing what was happening. "It almost sounds like split personalities, but that's a human disease."

"I was human before," Rose said looking up at him worry filling her eyes.

"I know" he said nodding his head. "I've never seen anything like it thought. But it would explain the missing time and the sleep walking" he said taking a deep breath.

"It does sound right" She said nodding her head. "So, this...other personality" Rose said looking from the Doctor to Jack. "Have either of you met her?"

"Yes" The Doctor said nodding his head. "I think she's the one who was talking when you lost that time at breakfast"

"Right" Rose said nodding her head. This was starting to make a lot of sense, not that she liked it, but at lest they were getting somewhere.

"But" Jack said looking up at the Doctor looking like a horrible idea had come to him. "She could remember, things about Roses day, this other Rose, she knew about her landing the TARDIS, why doesn't Rose remember anything that happens when she's sleep walking, or the conversation at breakfast?"

"I don't know" The Doctor said shaking his head. 'Damn!' He thought looking into the worried eyes of Rose. 'I don't know a lot it would seem.'

"It only goes one way" Rose said shaking her head. "I can't remember what she does, but for some reason, she can remember what I do" Both men nodded and Rose sighed.

"Is she..." Jack trailed off and looked up at Rose. "I mean you've been a little short tempered lately, I wonder, what's she like?" The Doctor looked down as Rose snatched her hand away from him.

"Why don't you ask her yourself" She said as a nasty smirk spread over her face.

"Rose?" The Doctor said looking up into her eyes; he was shocked to see what had once been slivers of gold, in very green eyes, had now taken over her eyes almost completely. Now they were such a dark gold that they almost seemed to glow. She looked from the Doctor to Jack and back again the smirk on her face turning into a sneer that made Rose's beautiful face turn into a nasty mask of hate.

"Rose isn't in right now"

A/N- Ok, so what do you think? Anyone have any ideas what's going on? Hope you like my little cliffy, they're so fun, don't you think? I hope you like it, reviews are always appreciated!


	4. Suspicions

A/N- Ok, first off a lot of this chapter is going to be a little bit darker then most of them. But I hope you like it anyway. Secondly sorry for the wait, I just got a new job and it's a time waster…hehe….So here it is, read on!

A/N- Also I'd like to thank my new BETA Mikkifavo. She is a huge help and this chapy just wouldn't be a good without her! So, Thank you very much!

Chapter Four -o- Suspicions

"Rose isn't in right now," She murmured, her lips curling into a nasty smile while both men stared at her.

"Rose?" The Doctor asked, looking deep into her eyes to find they had become pools of gold, they looked evil and forbidding and the Doctor had to work at holding back a shutter.

"I told you" She stated almost sulkily as she folded her arms. "Rose is gone"

'They think Rose has a split personality' She thought as they both stared at her 'This could work to my advantage.' What better way to put distrust between them then to bring out their greatest fears?

"But she's in there" The Doctor told her firmly walking towards her. "Rose, listen to me, fight this, you're stronger then her."

"Oh how trite" She mocked, rolling her eyes. "Fight it, you're stronger then her, you can beat her, bla bla bla" She said and it was then that the Doctor noticed that her accent had faded that it was almost non existent, she sounded like she could almost pass for American, but for the tiny twang that was Rose's accent. She stood up suddenly and walked out of the room. Both men stood and followed her as she walked into the control room. She looked around the room and smiled, a happy smile that would normally be so familiar and so warm, but she somehow made it look cold and calculating.

"This is such a beautiful ship" She spoke softly, a smirk on her face as she turned to the Doctor. "_I_ love it, but _Rose_ regrets the day she ever stepped foot onto it" Her smirk turned into a nasty smile.

"She doesn't" The Doctor said more to remind himself that although this being looked and sounded like Rose, it wasn't her. This wasn't _his_ Rose at all. He Saw through it, understood what she was trying to do and he promised himself that it wasn't going to work.

"Oh but she does" She told him, a look of pure delight on her face. She seemed to get joy from trying to break him. "She doesn't trust you anymore either. How could she when it's your fault that she's a freak?" When The Doctor finally met Jack's eyes, he tried to convey his message without using words. Luckily Jack was thinking the same thing he was: distract her, so he turned to face Rose again.

"You can't really expect us to believe all this." The Doctor said casually as Jack took a step to the side, trying to get around her while the Doctor distracted her. They needed to tie her down or something before she hurt herself, or more accurately, Rose.

"Oh" She said drawing the word out menacingly. "But you should." Something passed over her face that made the Doctor shift his feet, waiting for an attack. "I can read her mind like a book. It's so full of distrust and fear. She hates being here now; she only stays because you're the only other person out there who's like her. A freak" She closed her eyes and smiled at him, it was so cold and there was no emotion on her face at all. The Doctor could practically feel her hate burning through. "She knows. She hasn't told, you but she knows. You're the Destroyer of Worlds" She whispered with spite in her voice. "Killer of your own people" She said, dragging each word out to make sure they cut at his hearts. The Doctor paled at her words and she nodded slowly.

"Oh yes" She crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head, smirking. "It's all in here" She told him tapping her skull. "It's all been here, since the day Rose died" She spun around quickly and there was split second of shock on Jack's face before she smashed the palm of her hand into his chest sending him flying backwards. He landed on the grated floor with a sick 'thump' before sliding a few feet, he came to rest next to the wall, his eyes closed and his head slumped forward, but he wouldn't let himself stay down for long but as soon as he sat up he groaned in agony. The Doctor was surprised at the power in Rose's new body and he wondered if it was because of the regeneration or just this personality.

"You, she's never trusted" She growled at Jack, taking long strides towards him until she was stand over him, glaring down at him. "She sees the way you look at her; you just want to screw her." She leered at him as she bent down next to him and ran her finger down the side of his face, smearing a line of blood in the process. She reached up and unbound her hair so it fell down her shoulders and smiled suggestively at him.

"No" Jack said weakly shaking his head then wincing. "Rose is my friend"

"Sure she is" She said mockingly as she wiped the smear of blood off her finger onto Jack's shit. She stood up and rolled her eyes as she stepped towards the Doctor. "God! you two are so boring, no wonder she can't stand yo- her voice stopped abruptly and her head feel down so her chin was touching her chest.

"No!" She yelled. She lifted her face once more to expose the fresh tears in her eyes. There was a mixture of fear and anger on her face now, which was a stark contrast to the hatred that had contorted her beautiful features just moments before.

"Rose?" The Doctor asked as he met her green eyes again. He sighed in relief and when her tears started to fall fast and furiously down her cheeks she shook her head, as if by pure denial she could erase everything that had just happened.

"Oh God" She murmured, bringing her hands up to cover he face as. She continued to shake her head and her whole body shook with all the emotions running through her "Oh God" she cried again and followed it with a heart wrenching sob.

"Rose its ok" The Doctor assured her as he reached out to take a hold of her. She shrank back, pulling her hands away from her face and holding them out in front of her to stop him from coming closer.

"Don't!" She exclaimed, still shaking her head. She pulled her arms in and wrapped them around herself. She was no longer looking at him as she was scared that she would see the doubt and hurt in his eyes. "Oh God, it's not true" She cried, her long red hair flying back and forth as she continued to shake her head violently. "None of it is true, you know that, right?" She asked in desperation as she took a step towards him, finally looking into his eyes to see what he thought.

"Of course I know." The Doctor reached out tentatively and pushed a piece of her hair out of her face. "I know." He repeated, holding out his arms for her. She practically fell into them and as soon as she was safe in his arms, she buried her head in his shoulder and sobbed. She only stood there for a moment before she jerked back suddenly and spun around.

"Jack!" She cried out, moving hastily towards him. A foot from him she stopped, and for a moment she looked a little scared to get to close before she closed the gap and almost fell down next to him, landing on her knees. "Oh God I'm so sorry" She sobbed, running her hands over his face and head, checking for wounds "Oh, you're bleeding" She said pulling her coat off and pressing it to his head, where a large gash was leaking blood down the side of his face. He winced and in fear of hurting him any more, she started to pull her coat away. Jack put his hand over her wrist gently to keep it in place.

"I'm so sorry, none of that's true, those awful things she said, its not-"

"Rose…" He started, reaching up and laying his hand on her cheek. She closed her eyes and a few tears leaked out. "I know." She nodded and looked back towards the Doctor.

"We should get him to the med bay" She stated ignoring the pain that she saw in the Doctor's eyes. She knew he knew that none of what she said was true, but the pain was still there and she was sure she knew why.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Half an hour later, after they'd made sure Jack didn't have concussion and given him something for his pain and watched him fall asleep, The Doctor and Rose found themselves in the kitchen. The Doctor was making tea as Rose sat down at the table. She took a deep breath and looked over her shoulder at him. She wished he would say something, anything to break the odd silence between them She'd rather he yell than just be so… silent. He put a cup down in front of her and she found it wasn't tea; it was white and looked kind of fluffy.

"What is this?" Rose asked lifting the hot cup to her mouth for a taste.

"It's a Tom and Jerry." The Doctor sat down across from her and finally gave her a little smile. It was a real smile, but it wasn't quite a Doctor smile. "I thought you might like it" She took a sip and smiled back at him.

"Its good" She commented, placing both her hands around it, as if she was cold. The two of them lapsed into another uneasy silence that Rose didn't like. There were so many things she wanted to say at that moment, and none of them felt right. She looked up at him after a few seconds and sighed.

"I'm sorry." She finally settled on as she put the cup down. She didn't really know what else to say and hoped that would be enough.

"How long have you known?" he asked, he didn't sound angry or mad, simply, unsure. And that worried Rose a little, either he really wasn't mad, or he was hiding it, holding back, which was something he hadn't done in a while, at lest not where she was concerned.

"Since I woke up after I died. It's kind of hard to tell." Rose said shrugging her shoulders limply. "I was thinking about you that night, and the memories were just there, like they had been there all along. It was kind of like having a flashback of an old dream." She told him, looking down at her drink for a moment before she moved her eyes back up to him.

"I can remember sitting up in the TARDIS - only it's not me, it's you. I remember thinking at first I must be dead, that I must be in some kind of hell. Then when I realized I wasn't I remember feeling afraid and confused… but most of all I remember pain and shame." She reached out as if she was going to take his hand but drew back before she touched him. "I've never felt pain like that."

"Why didn't you say anything?" The Doctor asked, the pain in his voice finally escaping from beneath his facade. "I would have explained. It must have been so confusing for you." It was then that Rose realized he wasn't feeling pain for himself, he was worried about her.

"It was a little, but I got it all mostly sorted out." She assured him, reaching out again but this time he grabbed a hold of her hand before she could pull it away. She looked at their hands and briefly wondered how to tell him why she hadn't told him she knew right away. The best solution seemed to be to just say it, so she did. "I didn't tell you because… well… I didn't think you wanted me to know. And if you did you'd tell me when you were ready to."

"I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to…" He trailed off and she squeezed his hand. "I didn't want you to hate me."

"For saving the universe?" Rose inquired, her voice making it clear that he was stupid for thinking that she could ever hate him.

"For destroying mine" he whispered, still staring down at the table instead of meeting her eyes. "I woke up on the floor of the TARDIS and I knew everything was gone. Everyone I had ever known, loved, even hated. It was all gone in the blink of an eye."

"I don't hate you." She released his hand to stand up and walk over to him. She knelt down in front of him and took his face in her hands.

"I love you, and I think you are the bravest person I have ever met." She said smiling at him, making her whole face bright again. He closed his eyes, it was still so new to him, to hear two hearts beating inside Rose, just like him. He leaned forward to rest his forehead on hers and rested his palm on her chest, in-between her two hearts. They sat that way for a few minutes in a now comfortable silence till she pulled away a little while later and looked him in the eyes.

"Do you know why I have these memories?" She questioned, turning uncertain eyes to him. He met her gaze with a contemplative one of his own.

"I have an idea." The Doctor sounded unsure of himself, which felt wrong to Rose. The Doctor had always had an answer for everything. "I'm sure you've gathered that I'm a bit of, what humans call, a telepath."

"Yeah" Rose had a slight smirk on her face. "I knew there must be something like that going on up there" She joked tapping his head lightly with her index finger.

"I think I was projecting when you…died" he told her thoughtfully. She could see some of his pain was still there, that it would always be there. "I was sitting there holding your hand before you regenerated. It made me think I had lost everything all over again. I was thinking about losing my world and everything I had ever loved, and now I had lost you too."

"Well" Rose said brushing away the single tear that had fallen down his face. "Thank God for the TARDIS" She said her smile changing to that of warm gratitude as she stood up and reached down to him.

"Yes" The Doctor reaching out to take her hand. He let her pull him to his feet. He too now had a small smile on his face as she pulled him from the kitchen "Thank God for her."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"How are you feeling?" Jack asked when Rose and the Doctor walked in an hour or so later. Rose smiled at him and walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge, careful not to bounce him about at all.

"How am _I_ feeling, he asks" Rose mocked smiling over at the Doctor as he too walked over to the bed. "He gets thrown across the room and he wants to know how _I'm_ doing" She said looking back down at Jack smiling. Jack could see the joking was just a cover, she was angry, and he could see it was all with herself.

"Rose" he said and she just nodded her head trying to hold onto the smile, trying very hard not to let him see how much it hurt that she had caused this.

"I'm fine" She assured him as she toke a hold of his hand. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, but for a bit of a headache." Jack told her then winced at the look on her face, she was blaming herself. Rose took a deep breath and he could see the tears in the corner of her eyes. "Rose don't" He said squeezing her hand. "This isn't your fault"

"I know" She stammered wiping at the tears that fell, though he got the feeling she still felt guilty. "I know it's not. I'm still sorry"

"I know you are" Jack said hating that he couldn't make her fell better. "But you don't have to be, you didn't do this"

"Ok" Rose said pretending that she accepted that. They all stood, sat and laid there for a moment in silence, both men knowing that Rose was going to drowned herself in guilt if they let her. The Doctor wasn't about to let her do that, so he had to focus her mind on something else.

"Rose" The Doctor asked putting his hand on her shoulder. "Can you remember what was happening while she had control of you?"

"Yeah" Rose said nodding her head, her mind pulled from the guilt, with something new to focus on. "It was really weird, like I was watching a movie, only it was inside my head" She shuttered a little and the Doctor took her hand. "There's so much hate inside her, especially for you" She said looking at the Doctor.

"Why can you remember now but couldn't before?" Jack asked looking up at Rose. She shrugged her shoulders, obviously just as confused as them.

"I don't know" She said looking thoughtful, trying to piece it together. "Maybe because I knew about her, or had some kind of idea of her. Maybe that opened my mind to her better."

"That could be it" The Doctor agreed putting his hand on Rose's shoulder. "You didn't remember before because your mind was trying to block her, like she wasn't there."

"Right, something like that" Rose said happy it made sense to them as well. She looked at the Doctor and sighed a little. "Though I think we need to take anther look at this, thing, because I don't think it's split personalities."

"Why?" Jack and the Doctor said at the same time.

"Because no mater what happened to me, and no mater why it happened nothing that's part of _me _that could hate you as much as she does. There must be some other explanation" Rose stated firmly looking into the Doctor's eyes. He reached out and took Rose's hand, smiling at her, understanding in his eyes.

"It almost feels like when Cassandra had control of me" She said looking up at the Doctor a funny little smile on her face, 'that's a little odd' Jack thought as the Doctor smiled a little too. 'Ah, inside story' Jack thought looking between the two of them.

"Like another mind inside your head?" The Doctor asked and she nodded her head. A more serious look on her face now.

"Wait, what?" Jack asked looking between the two of them.

"It's a long, very weird story" Rose smiled down at him as she thought about Cassandra inside the Doctor "and I will tell you later"

"I'm holding you to that" Jack said pointing at her with a bright smile. 'A story, something else to take her mind off things' He thought wishing he knew how to fix things for good.

"I promise" Rose said her smile fading a little as she looked at the Doctor. "Is it possible someone's in my head?"

"It is" he looked as if he was going over something in his mind. "I'm not sure how they would have done it though."

"Well, who every she is I hope she knows she's not welcome." Rose said almost as if talking to herself.

"I think she knows" Jack said and Rose looked down at him. "She just doesn't care." He said reaching over to take Rose's hand. "We'll figure this out, don't worry."

"_You_ are going to stay in bed, for at lest the rest of the day" Rose stated sternly letting only a small smile seep through.

"Yes nurse Tyler" Jack said mockingly nodding his head and then wincing.

"See? That's what you get for mocking me" She said smirking at him now as she stood up from her spot on the side of the bed.

"Rose is right, you rest, Doctors orders" The Doctor said smiling at him, Jack just rolled his eyes and then nodded his head, slower this time.

"Fine, fine" He agreed smirking a little, the joking making things a little lighter, a little more normal. "So, does this hospital do sponge bathes?" He asked wiggling his eyebrows at them. Both of them groaned and started to the door. "What?" He asked as they both shook their heads.

"Get some rest Jack" Rose called over her shoulder as she laughed. He watched them go and smiled, he was glad to hear Rose laugh. She would be ok, they would figure this out and then they would fix her. She would be ok, he was sure.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The next morning, after much checking over and arguing, Jack had convinced the both of them he was fine and healthy enough to get out of bed. Both of them watched him like a hawk as they walked to the kitchen to get something to eat as they talked things over. Jack went a little slower then normal, but he made it totally under his own power. They all sat down around the table in a thoughtful silence. Rose was still in her P.J's, fluffy white slippers and all. The Doctor was not wearing his full suit, he had forgone the jacket and tie and was just wearing the shirt and dress pants this morning, both of them looked as if they hadn't sleep much, and not in a shagging-all-night-didn't-get-any-sleep kind of a way, more a worried-about-everything-didn't-get-any-sleep kind of a way. They needed to find a solution to this fast, before it did permanent damage.

"I've been thinking about this" Rose started after a bit of silence. "And I think…" She trailed off and looked at The Doctor. "I think we need to talk to her again."

"Ok" The Doctor agreed with her.

"I know it's a little dangerous but I think it might help and- wait?" Rose blinked in shock. "Did you say ok?"

"Yes" The Doctor affirmed reaching over and to take her hand. "I was going to ask if you'd be comfortable if we did that"

"Oh" Rose stated a little surprised.

"How are we going to do this?" Jack asked looking between the two of them. Rose closed her eyes for a moment and thought back over the last few days. Then a thought struck her and she stood up quickly knocking her chair over in the process.

"Hell!" She cried stepping away from the table. "I've got to go"

"Rose?" The Doctor asked as she looked up at him, her eyes were still green and he was a little more confused now.

"You can't talk about this in front of me" She told them backing closer to the door. "Anything you say she can hear, any plan we make she'll know about."

"We can't plan this with out you" Jack said standing up too.

"You're going to have to" Rose said looking from him to the Doctor. "I trust you, both of you" She assured them with a weary smile. "Go to work, I'll just be…swimming" She decided on as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail. She nodded once then turned and walked out of them room.

"So" Jack looked over at the Doctor, looking as lost as he felt. "Any ideas?"

"No" The Doctor whispered sitting back down in at the table. "But we'll come up with something" he said pulling Jack's chair out for him. Jack sat back down and took a deep breathe.

"Ok, so we need to draw her out" Jack noted threading his fingers together pushed his hands out backwards, popping them all at once.

"Right" The Doctor agreed "Should be easy"

"Right"

-o-o-o-o-

Rose sat on the lip of the pool looking down into the depths of the clear blue water. It looked like it went on forever, and she wasn't sure that it didn't. She didn't really want to go swimming and wasn't really sure what she was doing there. It killed her that she couldn't help them. They were in there trying to save her and all she could do was sit here by the pool and worry. She looked up to the ladder on the other side of the room and for a moment could see Jack pulling himself out of the pool, his hair dipping wet. She watched as he walked from the edge of the pool and raped a towel around his waist. And then it was gone and she took a sharp breathe. 'What the hell was that?' She wondered looking back at the pool, the water was totally still. 'A memory' She thought in triumph 'one of _her _memories.' She pulled her legs out of the pool and threw her shirt on over her swimming suit and ran from the room.

-o-o-o-o-

"I remember!" She said running into the kitchen to see both the guys sitting over what looked to be a diagram of some sort. Both of them had changed since she was in here last the Doctor was wearing his full suit and Jack was in his very old military jacket, like the one he had been wearing the first time they met. Rose wondered briefly why they had changed but the Doctor looked up at her and she remembered why she was there.

"Remember what?" The Doctor asked putting a blank sheet of paper over the plans.

"I remember, something of her memories, my 'sleep walking'" She smirked looking between the two of them.

"That's great" Jack said smiling at her. "What did you remember?"

"You, swinging naked in the pool" Rose told him enjoying the red that filled his cheeks.

"Naked?" The Doctor asked looking over at him an inquisitive look on his face.

"Ok, that's not the point" Jack said looking between the two of them. "So, can you access her mind?" He asked a little excited now. This could help them considerable.

"I don't know" Rose said sitting down across from them putting her head on her fist. "I was just sitting in the pool room and there was this memory there, I don't know if I can do it again"

"Ok" The Doctor smiled at her reassuringly. "We're going to try something" He stood up and walked over to Rose. "Should have done this to begin with, if you don't mind?" He said knelling in front of her holding his hands on either side of her head. She looked into his eyes and smiled.

"Of course" She said, her smile telling him she'd trust him with anything, even her mind. He closed his eyes and put his fingers on her temple and Rose's eyes snapped shut.

_It was very strange, like looking through someone else's eyes. She could see and hear but had no control over anything. She recognized the scenery at once, they were in the auction house, were Jacks power amplifier was. The person she was looking through turned and looked up to the stage his eyes landing on a young blond girl looking at some dishes._

'_Her' a nasty voice whispered, it was female, but it was inside this guy. When he got closer Rose realized she was looking at herself, looking at the dishes. 'She came with him, it has to be her.' Rose watched as he walked up to her and smiled, that smile that made Rose's skin crawl. _

'_Do you like them?' he said and she watched as her older self jumped a little. _

'_I do yes' Rose heard her old voice say with a slight nod of her head. 'I've never seen anything quite like it.'_

"No!" Rose cried pulling away from the Doctor, she couldn't relive that, not again. Her whole body was shaking as he pulled his hands away from her head.

"She was inside of him" The Doctor said and Rose looked up into his eyes. He was trying to distract her from it, so she let him.

"Yeah, I think so, like she's inside me" Rose agreed taking a deep breath, trying to steady herself.

"Someone what to fill me in?" Jack asked and they both looked over at him. The Doctor stood back up and walked over to his chair.

"Well-

"So, you've found out my dirty little secret" She whispered turning her dark gold eyes on both of them. She pushed away from the table and sneered down at them. "But, it would seem, we all have our share of dirty little secrets, don't we Doctor." She looked over at him, her eyes piercing as she stared at him. "A door, once opened, may be stepped through in either direction," She mocked rolling her eyes. "I mean really Doctor, you must really love Rose, to just leave her there, trapped on some space station, no way home" She looked over at Jack and laughed, no joy in the sound.

"But then, I guess he's pretty good at that, isn't he Jack?" She needled him looking Jack in the eyes. He couldn't hold her gaze and looked down.

"So, you've guessed, not split personalities, bravo" She clapped her hands together lightly, the contempt clear in he face.

"So what are you then?" Jack asked looking up again.

"Come now, haven't you guessed?" She asked looking at the Doctor. "Well I must say, I'm a little disappointed"

"How did you enter Rose's body?" The Doctor asked standing up.

"Well now, I can't give you all my secrets" She sneered at him as she leaned against the counter, her back to the wall.

"Why her?" he asked instinct telling him there was something else going on here.

"She was there" She told him shrugging her shoulders a bored look on her face.

"No" The Doctor said gaining confidence now. "You forget, I was inside you mind" The Doctor growled as he stepped closer. "I know you picked her, was it because she was with me, or Jack?" Jack looked a little confused as the Doctor took a step closer to her.

"You think you're so bright _Doctor_" She spit his name out like a poison. "You think you can go from world to world changing things for the better? Who are you to decide what's better!?" She demanded now poking him in the chest. "Who?"

"Me then" the Doctor noted as she sneered at him.

"Yes, you" She whispered the sneer turning into something savage. "And I'm going to live in this body till there is nothing left of _your_ Rose, until she's gone, for good. And then you can see what its like to lose someone…someone- Her eyes rolled back into her head and her head fell down again.

"My God she is so typical!" Rose raved her head coming back up, it seemed control could slip from one to the other a little fast now, that was a little worrisome. "The scorned lover, ha!" Rose smiled up at the Doctor, her bright green eyes shining. "Just has to spill everything, she's easier to read when she's ranting about you" She said reaching out and rubbing his cheek, a look of such love and her face it startled the Doctor when only moments ago the hate had been so intense.

"You want to tell us what's going on?" Jack asked looking between the two of them. "Or at lest fill me in, cause I haven't got a clue"

"Right" Rose said walking over to him. She knelled in front of him and took his hands in his. "But first" she looked up into his eyes, all worry and pain gone for the moment, just her staring at him. "I just want to say how sorry I am we left you there." Neither of them, Rose or the Doctor, had said it before, when they told him what happened. He didn't need to hear it, not really, but it was nice none the less. Jack nodded his head and smiled at her warmly.

"I know" He assured her squeezing her hands. He made it clear with the look on his face that there was nothing to be sorry for and Rose was thankful for that. "You can make it up to me by not doing it again"

"Right, well you don't have to worry about that" Rose told him standing back up "You're stuck with us now"

"Good" Jack beamed up at her. She walked back over to her chair and sat down.

"So, let us in on the secret?" The Doctor asked taking her hand with an encouraging smile on his face.

A/N- So, what do you think? What does Rose know, how is she going to get that thing out of her? Tone in next time! Thanks to all those lovely reviews people, I love hearing from you!


	5. Load Off

A/N- Thanks to my fantastic BETA Mikkifavo. And I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter Five -o- Load Off

"Ok" Rose smiled as she crossed her arms on the table in front of her. "It seems Carivina, that's her name, is some sort of criminal..." Rose trailed off as she saw the Doctor's face pale and his eyes grow wide with shock. "What?" Rose asked with a worried look now on her face.

"Did you say Carivina?" He asked running his hand through his hair, making it look more ruffled than it already was. Rose gave him an inquisitive look then nodded.

"Yes" She said looking a little confused she wondered if he knew her.

"Do you know her?" Jack asked not even sounding a little surprised. He knew it wasn't uncommon for The Doctor to know people - even weird crazy evil people.

"I did" he told them, he took a deep breath before he started his story.

"When I landed on Alitopia I was looking for a bit of a break" he chose to ignore the looks they gave each other at the word 'break,' as if he _couldn't_ take a break. "But that's not what I got." He looked at both of their inquisitive gazes and decided the long version could wait.

"There's a planet, it's a very long way away from Alitopia, and it's called Enitixa. They have a very strict government and a very severe life imprisonment sentence. What they do is strip your..." he paused and looked at Rose apologetically, meeting her eyes. "They strip your soul from your body and put it in this vesicle that they would then jettison into space, and that's how you'd spend the rest of forever. Floating in space, alone."

"Wow" Jack breathed, a little amazed at the cruelty of it all. Rose just nodded her head waiting for him to go on.

"Carivina's ship crashed onto Alitopia a few weeks before I got there" He stood up as if feeling a little restless and paced back and forth in front of them. "Sometimes, if the crime was committed by more than one person they would split the vesicle and put them both in it, right next to each other but with no way of communicating. It was a form of torture."

"Ok" Rose said, keeping her voice calm, but looking horror struck. "So we'll not go there, right?"

"Yeah" The Doctor said smiling knowing she was trying to lighten the mood a little. He sat down next to her and took her hand. "There were two of them in her vesicle, her, and her partner Alexinta. When they crashed she somehow made it out of the vesicle and found that she could-

"Take over another person's body" Rose finished for him.

"Right" The Doctor confirmed looking right at Rose and not even glancing at Jack. She noticed that every few minutes he looked at her, right in the eyes. He had done it quite a few times before she realized that he was making sure she was still herself, checking her eyes for any changes.

"To make a very long story short, Carivina, in someone else's body, found a way to free her mate, Alexinta, and they wrecked havoc on the planet. When I got there things had gotten pretty bad. No one trusted anyone else and nothing was getting done to fix it. I found a way to find out which bodies were being used by them and I re-trapped Alexinta..." He stopped as if he was unsure how of to go on.

"But Carivina got away?" Rose suggested to him, now taking from her own information.

"Yes" The Doctor said bitterly.

"From there" Rose started, taking over the story now that the Doctor was done. "She hitched a ride to a new planet, taking over new bodies as she saw fit." Rose shifted in her seat every few seconds as if she couldn't get comfortable.

"She's been looking for you Doctor, ever since she figured out who you were" Rose told him looking down at her hands, she was fiddling with a spoon and just couldn't seem to hold still. "She heard stories everywhere she went, about a man who was everywhere and nowhere, a man who traveled through time and space. She's...she's known it was you for the last 100 years or so" Rose looked up at the Doctor now, a very confused look on her face. "That can't be right though"

"Why?" Jack asked looking over at Rose then looking up at the Doctor.

"The Doctor that Carivina remembers, it was the last Doctor, your ninth form" Rose told the Doctor. "But you were new to that form the first time I met you" The Doctor smiled coyly and nodded.

"Between meeting you and traveling with you there was a point of time where you weren't with me" The Doctor reminded her, smirking a little.

"All that in fifteen seconds" Rose stated looking impressed. "How long was it really?" She asked - now intrigued. She had always just assumed he'd asked her to go with him and then when she said no he'd left and come right back to tell her about time travel. She'd never even thought he might have _gone_ somewhere in that time.

"I was gone about a week between asking you and you coming along" The Doctor told her and she let out a little laugh.

"I never even thought about that" Rose spoke quietly with a small smile on her face. "I guess I'm lucky you didn't find someone else to ask along." The Doctor met her eyes and she knew that he was sure, it was meant to be her.

"Ok, so, you must have gone back in time to Alitopia" Rose asked and he nodded once. "So in the time since then she's been everywhere, looking for you, waiting to take her revenge. She's not very happy with you." Rose stood suddenly as if sitting was no longer comfortable. She knew now why she was feeling restless she was fighting against Carivina inside of her, and she wasn't doing very well.

"Rose, are you ok?" The Doctor asked. Concern was lacing his voice as he met her eyes again. He was a little concerned when he saw how much of them was golden now, it looked like Rose was fighting a losing battle.

"It's getting a little harder, I think" Rose looked away from him and walked to the cupboard to pull down a cup. "She has had more practice at this than me, that's all" She filled the cup with water and took a drink then turned and smiled thoughtfully. "She was in London at that fair to steal the Barbarac multiplier. She was hoping it would amp up her power, make it easier to take over a body because..."Rose trailed off and her eyes fell shut. Her head shook back and forth and it looked almost like she was arguing with herself, which she might very well have been doing.

"Because" She burst out after a few seconds and now had a triumphant smile on her face. "Because she can only take a body at its weakest. Sick or injured people" Rose's eyes had a very heavy tint of gold to them now, more than half, and the Doctor was extremely worry now.

"She was trying to hide that from me" Rose explained to them, pulling herself up onto the counter. "She can only go into bodies when they're weak. That's why she wanted your power amplifier Jack" Rose looked down at the cup of water in her hands. "But then she found out you knew the Doctor, she overheard you, talking to...talking to-

"Salina" Jack cut her off nodding his head. "She had had an experience with the Doctor, about five years before. He'd saved her whole town. She was from the Pluto colony."

"Right, that was more than..." The Doctor trailed off and smiled. "More than fifty years ago for me"

"I was telling her I knew a man like her Doctor, not the same one that she knew, of course. But I knew it was you by the way she talked about you" Jack bounced his eyebrows and smiled.

"Carivina was going to hurt you, then take over your body in the hopes that you would lead her to the Doctor." Rose told him and he visibly shuddered.

"So now we know who she is" Jack said after a few seconds looking at them. "How do we get rid of her?"

"Well, I have an idea" Rose said jumping down from the counter and walking towards the table. She stopped about half way there and closed her eyes. "No" She breathed out seconds before her eyes flew open again.

"Hello Carivina" The Doctor said when her eyes met his and he saw she had taken control again, he had been waiting for it though, her eyes were now almost pure gold. They had to figure this out fast before he really lost Rose forever.

"So you know who I am" Carivina stated cockily. "But you still have no idea what to do about it, do you Doctor?" She asked, slinking around the table till she was standing beside Jack's chair. She bent down so her lips were right next to Jack's ear.

"It would have been very interesting living in your head, I think" She whispered seductively, running a fingernail down his neck. He stood up quickly and took a step away from her.

"I don't have any ideas, you're right" The Doctor told her, allowing a smug smile to appear on his face. "But Rose does, and I bet you don't know what she's planning" She looked away from the Doctor and a nasty sneer graced her face.

"You don't, do you?" Jack asked looking smug now too. "She's just a little bit stronger than you, isn't she?"

"Yes" she admitted freely nodding her head slowly with a calculating smile on her face. "Your girl Rose has a strong mind" She said slowly, her eyes drifting to once again meet with the Doctor's. "I'm going to enjoy destroying it"

"To bad for you that you'll never get the chance" The Doctor snarled at her. Jack was a little taken aback; he had never seen this level of emotion, this kind of anger from the Doctor before. "And let me tell you this Carivina, if Rose is even slightly hurt by this I will put you in a hell far worse than that in which you lived with Alexinta." There was a spark behind her eyes at the mention of Alexinta and the Doctor and Jack both caught it.

"Your idle threats don't scare me" She growled, taking a step away from him, and in so doing, proving that, yes, his threats did scare her. "This body will be mine and then _you_ will know what its like to lose the one you love" She stumbled a little as she moved away from him and her hand flew up to her head.

"No, no, no!" She said the last word on a shrill note stamping her foot like a child having a tantrum. "I don't care!" She yelled - seemingly arguing with herself. Jack took a step towards her, afraid that in her rage she may hurt Rose.

"You are not stronger than me!" She screamed as she raked her hands through her hair. Her breathing was becoming labored as she fought with Rose inside her head. Her hands made fists in her hair and her head fell forward. After a few seconds her breathing began to even out and a soft chuckle drifted from her lips. She lifted her head and the Doctor was a little surprised to see the golden eyes still staring back at him. He had been sure Rose could do it; she had to be stronger than Carivina.

"Well" She let out on a long breath. "I guess she's not as strong as you thought" She reached out as if she was going to grab something off the table and the Doctor noticed her hand was shaking violently.

"Having problems?" Jack asked sarcastically as he looked down at her shaking hand. She was watching her hand shake too as she pulled it closer to herself, a slightly confused look on her face. Her head fell slightly forward and a curtain of hair blocked her face from view. Her hand was frozen a few inches away from her chest. She took a deep breath and looked up with a hesitant half smile on her face. Her eyes once again close to a pure dark green color, only tiny slivers of gold.

"It's getting harder every time." She told them, running her hands through her already messed hair. "I'm-" Rose's voice hitched on the word and she blinked back tears. "I'm a bit scared"

"It's ok Rose" Jack said soothingly at the same time as the Doctor. Rose smiled a little and the Doctor walked over to her. He put his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes.

"We _will _fix this" he told her in a tone that commanded no argument. She took a deep breath as he wiped the single tear from her cheek.

"You said something about a plan?" Jack reminded her when she turned back to look at him.

"So I did" She agreed. She walked over to the table and pulled out a chair to sit down. She pulled a pen off the table and twisted her hair up with it, a thoughtful expression crossing her face.

"Jack, I never did get to tell you about Cassandra, did I?" She asked. The Doctor's face flushed a little. Rose saw and turned to him, smirking "I don't know why you're so embarrassed, it's not like she was teasing _you_"

"No, she was teasing you, in my body" Jack looked from Rose to the Doctor, if he wasn't interested before, he was now.

"Guys?" Jack interrupted, gaining the attention of the pair of them. He smiled hopefully at Rose. "I do believe you were about to tell a funny and/or embarrassing story about the Doctor."

"Right" Rose laughed at the eager look on Jack's face. "Well this was about a month after he regenerated." Rose said. Both she and Jack looked over at the Doctor with smiles on their faces.

"We went to New Earth to see a friend of the Doctor's" Rose began the story as both the Doctor and Jack made themselves comfortable around the table; this was, after all, a long story.

-o-o-o-

Two hours later Rose was just finishing up the story; there had been a lot of questions and much laughter from Jack. At one point Jack had even begged her to show him the Doctor possessed by Cassandra.

Instead of having The Doctor re-enact the whole scene, which would have been very funny, but since he refused to do it she had to convince him to let her show Jack her memories. After a short tutorial on exactly how to get Jack into her mind she showed him, and as soon as he had come out, he promptly burst into laugher. By the time Rose was finished telling the story she felt much better than she had when she started. Though she was sure that was what a lot of Jack's laughing was about, cheering her up.

"That was a really great story" Jack said leaning back in his chair smiling and wiping the tears of laughter out of his eyes. He looked at Rose curiously and the smile faded a little. "But I don't see a plan in there"

"Then you weren't looking very hard" The Doctor declared, smiling now as he reached over and took Rose's hand. "Do you think it will work?" He asked her.

"I don't know" She said. She was desperately hoping her plan would work, hoping if it didn't they could make it. "But it might have a reverse on it"

"And if it doesn't I might be able to put one on it with-

"A little jiggery-pokery?" Rose suggested with a hopeful smile on her face.

"Something like that" The Doctor said reassuringly. He smiled at her and squeezed her hand. Jack was thoroughly lost now, but he didn't really mind. Rose had a smile on her face that was full of pure hope and that was worth a little bit of confusion.

"We're going to New Earth then" The Doctor spoke up after a moment of silence. He stood and headed for the door.

"We are?" Jack asked looking to Rose who simply smiled her beautiful smile at him. "We are" he agreed without an answer, he heard the Doctor chuckle as he walked towards the control room.

"The Psychic-graft that Cassandra used to force her way into my body-

"You think it may have a reverse on it?" Jack asked, hating the doubt that crept into his voice. But he knew it was very unlikely that Cassandra would have wanted a way for it to be undone. He almost winced as Rose's smile faltered for a moment.

"No" She said shaking her head after a moment. "But I know one thing; if it can be done the Doctor can do it"

"I have come to understand that" Jack agreed with a half smile on his face that reminded Rose of the cocky con artist she had first met, hanging in the air from a tractor beam.

"Jack" Her tone was suddenly serious.

"Yes?" He sounded a little worried now.

"It's just" She stood up and smiled down at him. "I don't think I ever thanked you, for saving my life back in 1941"

"I don't think so, no" He said shaking his head looking up at her. She put her hands on the side of his head leaned over and kissed his forehead.

"Thank you" She whispered before she stood back up.

"Anytime" he told her, quite seriously, but with a smile.

-o-o-

"When are we going to?" Rose asked when she stepped into the control room a few minutes later.

"About an hour after we fixed everything" The Doctor told her looking up from the screen. "Right after we left with Cassandra to met her younger self"

"Ok" Rose agreed walking over to him. She watched as he pushed buttons, shifted leavers and twirled a little blue ball. It was all so endlessly fascinating, and even more so now that she knew what each thing did, and knew how to use them. Jack wandered in a few minutes later as the TARDIS landed with a small shudder.

"We there?" He asked looking at Rose who nodded her head before heading to the door with the Doctor right behind her.

"There shouldn't be anyone here; they didn't start searching the hospital until almost three hours after we left." The Doctor explained as Rose pulled open the door. They all stood in the doorway looking at the basement. Both Rose and Jack were trying not to laugh as they remember the Cassandra possessed Doctor.

"_Goodness me, I'm a man... Yum!... So many parts! And hardly used... Ah.. ah! Two hearts! Oh, baby, I'm beating out a samba!'_

The scene was playing out in both their heads as they stepped out into the basement. Jack snickered and elbowed the Doctor who looked up at him.

"Not so '_hardly used' _now, huh?" Jack asked and the Doctor rolled his eyes as he walked over to the Psychic-graft. Rose smiled at Jack and patted him on the shoulder before following the Doctor over.

"So?" She asked, watching as he inspected the psychic-grafter slowly, stopping every few seconds to look at something different. "Is there any hope?" She asked. He looked up into her eyes once more, a large grin encompassing his face.

"Rose Tyler" He said, pulling out his sonic screwdriver with a little flourish. "There is always hope" He walked over to the main switch and pulled a panel off. "This may take a while"

A/N- So, what do we think? I hope you all like it. I know it's a little late and I'm really sorry, but things have been very hectic in my life the last few weeks. I'll try to make it up to you by getting the next chapter out by, shall we say, Saturday? Ok? So, I hope you liked it and reviews are always good Christmas presents!


	6. Empty Shell?

Ok, late, again. I'm sooooo sorry. I got really sick over the holidays and couldn't write. I hope you really like this one!

Chapter Six -Empty Shell?

Rose sat back and watched as the Doctor worked. At first he didn't seem to be doing much, a lot of staring and walking back and forth between the Psychic-graft and the switch that turned it on. After a while he started fiddling with his sonic screw driver, twisting it to different setting, looking, she hoped, for the right one to save her. She could feel Carivina at the back of her mind now all the time. She could feel Carivina fighting for control, and she could also feel her control slipping away second by second. Jack was sitting next to her, his hand resting lightly on hers. She wanted to stand and pace or something, anything to not be sitting here waiting. But she knew that impulse came from Carivina and so she sat where she was, not moving but to breath.

Jack didn't have to look over at Rose to know she was staring fixedly at the Doctor, not moving, hardly breathing. He was sure she had more going on they what he could see on the outside. He wondered if Rose could hear Carivina inside her head but he didn't want to ask. Every once and a while Rose would shake her head ever so slightly and then take a deep breath. Jack was starting to worry a little, he hoped the Doctor hurried.

Ever single breath Rose took tore at the Doctor. He knew if he didn't figure this out fast enough they may lose Rose for good. He wanted to look back at her, reaffirm that she was still herself. But he couldn't bare to see the hope in her eyes, what if it didn't work? He could feel her eyes on his back, waiting for him to fix it, to make it right. She was depending on him and he was scared. What if this time, when it mattered most, he failed her? He was getting there, at lest he thought he was. He could feel the answer just out of sight, just around the corner. He just had to find it, fast.

Suddenly Rose pulled her hand away from the Jack and looked over at him. Her face was contorted in pain. She reached up and put her hand to her forehead before she doubled over in pain. The Doctor looked back at them and rushed over.

"Rose?" He asked pulling her face up so her could look at her, so he could see her eyes.

"I'm sorry" Rose cried as she clamped her eyes closed tears leaking out as she inhaled deeply. She turned her head slightly to Jack and opened her eyes a little. "Jack, make sure-" She cut herself off with a sharp intake of breath, she let it out in a shuttered breath. "Make sure she doesn't hurt anyone"

"Rose?" He asked caught off guard by the pain on her face, it had never hurt before to switch over, but now, now it seemed different.

"Promise me!" Rose demanded her voice was weak but to Jack it felt almost as if she had yelled.

"I promise" Jack assured her nodding his head as he put his hand on her back. The Doctor had her hands in his as she started to shake, the tremors making both Jack and the Doctor shake slightly.

"I'm sorry" She choked out seconds before her whole body went limp. Of course that only lasted for a few moments.

"Get off of me!" She cried standing up abruptly. Jack fell backwards as did the Doctor, both landing a foot away from her.

"Free" She said giddily as she looked at both of them. "Finally free" Then she turned her eyes on the Doctor and glared. "Didn't think I could do it, did you?" She snarled at him as she took a step towards him. "Didn't think I could beat her, did you?" She demanded looking down at him as he shook his head in denial.

"No" he denied, refusing to believe it. "No, she's still in there, I know she is" He told her looking up at her, looked her right in the eyes. He almost recoiled at what he saw there. Pure gold, not even the slightest amounts of green, Rose was really and truly gone. She nodded her head as he realized the truth. He had failed, failed to save her, and in doing so damned himself.

She reached over and plucked the sonic screwdriver out of his hand with little effort. The Doctor hardly even seemed to be trying now. She stood up to her full height and looked down at the Doctor. Then she looked down at the screw driver, she twisted it a little with a sneer on her face.

"So nice of her to leave me her memories" She mocked as she pointed it down at the Doctor. She was so preoccupied with the Doctor that she momentarily forgot about Jack, and that moment was going to cost her. Jack stood up slowly and pulled out his gun, happy that he had strapped it on before they left. He switched it down a few notches then took aim and fired. The energy hit her in the back and the Doctor watched as her eyes rolled back in her head then fluttered shut. She crumpled to the ground like a rage doll, lying in a limp pile and the floor.

"Is she..." The Doctors voice was low and Jack almost didn't hear him. He took a step towards them.

"No" Jack told him shaking his head. "Just stunned, she should be out for about an hour" He looked from the body formally held by Rose and back to the Doctor. He held the Doctors eyes for a moment before he bent over and took the sonic screwdriver back from her. He tossed it to the Doctor, who caught it purely out of reflex.

"How much longer will it take you to fix it?" Jack asked looking over at the Psychic-graft.

"But you heard her, Rose is...Rose is-

"Gone?" Jack asked looking a little surprised. "When was the last time you took anything she said at face value?" The Doctor looked up at him and then back at her, Jack had sparked hope, but it was dwindling fast.

"You didn't see her eyes, purely gold, what if-

"What if she was lying and we do nothing?" Jack asked surprised that it was him picking up the Doctor and not the other way around. The Doctor looked a little stunned as he stood up. He switched the sonic screwdriver back and looked at Jack.

"Give me 45 minutes" He said walking back over to the Psychic-graft. Jack nodded his head as he bent down next to Rose again and picked her up. He carried her over and laid her down on the bench, at lest she could be mildly comfortable. He sat down next to her and brushed her hair out of her face, to anyone out there listening he sent out a silent prayer. 'Please let her be right' He asked closing his eyes as he rested his palm on he forehead. 'Please let Rose be ok, let her wake up as herself, please!?' He begged to any and all that were out there listening.

"Jack" The Doctor said putting his hand on his shoulder. Jacks eyes flew open and if it weren't for the Doctor holding his in place he would have shot up too.

"Its ok" The Doctor said and Jack took a deep breath.

"Sorry" he said blinking a few times. "Bad dream" Jack rubbed his eyes for a second then looked up at him. "Well?"

"I've got it" the Doctor told him, there was a abnormality in the Doctors voice that took Jack a moment to identify, it was fear, the Doctor was scared. He didn't know what the Doctor would do if they got Carivina out of Rose only to find an empty shell.

"Should we wait for her to wake up?" Jack asked looking down at the still unconscious Carivina.

"No" The Doctor said shaking his head as he knelt down next to her. He ran his hand down her cheek. "Rose" He whispered "Please be in there" He bent over and kissed her cheek before he stood back up then bent over and picked her up. Jack watched as he carefully walked her over to the Psychic-graft. He sat her up with her arms at her side, her head falling forward to rest on her chin. He walked over to the switch and put his hand on it and took a deep breath.

"What will happen to Carivina?" Jack asked before the Doctor pulled the switch.

"Nothing" the Doctor said not looking at Jack. "She'll cease to exist." He told him waiting for Jack's response.

"Ok" Jack said nodding his head. The Doctor nodded once then pulled the switch. Red lightning like light filled the room as it pulled Rose's arms out away from her body. The light was gone in a matter of seconds and then a blue mist floated away from Rose, it seemed to float there a moment before it evaporated.

"It worked" The Doctor said a half smile on his face. They both looked down at Rose, still slumped over on the floor. They had both half expected her to look up at them and smile, but she didn't.

"We should get her back to the ship" Jack said after a tense few seconds. The Doctor just walked over to her bent down and picked her up, he made it seem like she was light as a feather. He turned with Rose in his arms without saying a word and walked back to the ship. Jack stood where he was for a moment looking around the room. He hoped he hadn't just lost the two most important people in his life. Because if Rose was gone, the Doctor was as good as gone too. After a second he turned and headed back to the ship too.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

They avoided each other for the next six hours, Jack was wondering aimlessly through the ship. The TARDIS was fully aware of what was going on, and she seemed to be worried as well. Twice they had passed each other, once two hours into it, both still hopeful.

"It's just her body healing" Jack had said not meeting the Doctor's eyes.

"Right" He'd agreed, not looking at Jack either.

And the second time had been about 45 minutes ago. Both of them were starting to lose hope, something Jack had never really seen the Doctor do. That time neither of them said anything as they looked up at each other and passed. Somehow, every half an hour or so Jack would pass by the open door to Rose's room, he was sure it was the TARDIS's doing and he thanked her. He was sure she was doing the same thing with the Doctor. It was getting into the seventh hour when Jack decided food might be good, Rose might be hungry _when_ she woke up.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The Doctor was not wondering aimlessly. He stopped, over and over in places he had been in with Rose. The control room, the kitchen, the wardrobe, and the many other rooms they had found together exploring the ship on their 'days off.' He stopped every half an hour by the open door of Rose's room and thanked the TARDIS when he did, she was obviously behind it. She was still breathing, both her hearts were beating, he took all these things as a good sign, but yet, she still refused to wake up. He had gone in and talked to her once, pleading with her.

"Please Rose" He'd begged. "Please wake up, we can't- He'd cut himself off as he took her hand into his. "I can't do this without you" He's put his hand to her temple, trying to read her, but he couldn't find anything, and that scared him more than anything else.

So now he was just wondering the rooms. It was getting to be around eighth hours now and he was starting to lose it. He knew he had a firmly built wall of composure around himself right now, but it was starting to slip, he was going to lose it soon. He took a deep breath and a smell filled his nose that so strongly reminded him of Rose he had to follow it. When he got to the kitchen he blinked, there were chips, loads and loads of chips, everywhere.

"I may have gone a little overboard" Jack said turning around to look at him. "I don't even know if she still likes chips anymore, I mean she could hate them, I haven't seen her eat them in the last few weeks but- He cut himself off and took a breath. "Chips" He said looking up at the Doctor.

"I see that" The Doctor said nodding his head. The Doctor sat down and pulled a plate of the chips towards him. Jack sat down too and did the same, though neither of them ate. They both looked to the door, as if expecting Rose to come barreling in demanding to know why they had started without her. When that didn't happen the Doctor just looked down at the chips and sighed.

"She'll-

"Don't" The Doctor told him cutting him off before he really got started. "I can't hear it anymore" He said pushing the plate away from himself looking down at the empty place in front of him now. The Doctor looked up when Jack's chair scraped the floor as he shoved it back.

"Starting without me?" A slow unsteady voice said, he could hear the fatigue in her voice but almost didn't dare turn around. "Giving up on me Doctor?" She asked, her voice sounded strained and tired. He could barely turn his head to look he was so worried he was going to wake up and find it was a dream.

But she was standing there, leaning on the door frame for support smiling at him. He pushed his chair back as well and took a step towards her.

"Rose?" He asked his voice strangled through the tears threatening to spill.

"Sorry" She apologized when he finally reached her. "I was _really_ tired, it took a lot of work, hiding from her" She spoke softly pretty much falling into his arms when he held them out to her. She was warm and solid, _not_ a figment of his imagination. The Doctor pulled back a moment and met her eyes and let out a breath he had been holding for a very, very long time. Her eyes, once dotted with gold flecks were now purely green, she was purely Rose again. Jack was there seconds later joining the hug. They all stood there for a moment, basking in the warmth that had been missing in Rose's absence.

"What happened?" Jack asked a while later when he pulled away. She smiled up at him and took a deep breath.

"Do I smell chips?" She asked looking slyly at him.

"You do" He affirmed nodding his head swiping his arm over the table fully covered in chips. Rose laughed and the sound of it rang though the room making both the men smile, big goofy wide grins.

"Are you hungry?" The Doctor asked helping her over to the chair.

"I could eat" She joked nodding her head as he sat down next to her. "My boys" She said looking between the two of them. "I'm sorry I scared you"

"Its ok" Jack said pushing a plate of chips in front of her. "We're just glad you're ok"

"So glad" The Doctor said his voice still a little choked up. Rose smiled at him and wiped away the single tear that had fallen.

"So she's really gone?" Jack asked sitting down across from the two of them, both men still had silly happy grins on their faces as Rose pulled the plate closer to herself. She picked up a chip and took a bite then nodded her head.

"Yes, she's gone. I can feel it, no one but me up here." She said tapping her head with her middle finger. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly and they could tell she was putting on a brave face. She was obviously having problems with almost being kicked out of her own body. Jack knew the Doctor would help her with it when she was ready so he changed the subject.

"How did you make her think she had won?" He asked reaching over and nipping one of her chips, not out of necessity, there were lots of chips, but just to see her smirk at him when he did it. "I mean, that is what you did right, hid from her and let her take over so she'd think she'd won?"

"Yeah" Rose told him as she stood up slowly. "I had to hide way back in my mind, its um...kinda hard to explain." She said walking to the fridge, steadier on her feet now.

"You had to assume we would still put you in the Psychic-graft." Jack said nodding his head as understanding hit. "You had to know she'd attack the Doctor first, 'Don't let her hurt anyone' you said. You knew I'd stun her"

"I was counting on it, I could feel all the hate and loathing for the Doctor in her mind, I knew she'd go for him first leaving you to act" Rose affirmed as she pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge. "I knew you two wouldn't give up on me so easily" She smiled over her shoulder at the Doctor and he opened his mouth to tell her that he almost had, that she should really be thanking Jack when Jack cut him off.

"Of course we wouldn't" He said looking pointedly at the Doctor, trying to convey to him that it wasn't important, he hadn't given up on her, not really. Rose walked back over but didn't sit down, she bent down and picked up the plate of chips and kissed the Doctor on the cheek.

"I'm going to go take a bath" She told them a content little smile on her face. "I need some time to think." She said softly, almost to herself. She blew Jack a kiss then walked out the door with her water and her chips. Both men watched her go then the Doctor turned back and looked at Jack.

"You didn't" Jack told him before the Doctor could even open his mouth to argue. "You would have gotten your head together after a moment and realized exactly what I did"

"You think so?" the Doctor asked a small smile on his face.

"I know so" Jack said as he too stood up and walked to the door. "She's going to need someone to talk to when she's done thinking"

"I know" the Doctor said not turning to look at Jack. The Doctor knew she'd need someone to talk to, was going to need to do a lot of talking things through over the next little while and he fully intended to be there for her, through it all.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Rose sat in the bath the warm comforting water all around her. She hadn't felt up to taking a bath for a long while now. And she was happy to let her mind wonder as she relaxed in the huge bear claw tub she had found on her second week in the TARDIS, so very long ago. She was taking inventory of her body again, after all, she couldn't be sure what had been her and what had been Carivina the first time she woke up in her new body. She still had not recovered all of the missing time when Carivina had taken over her body, and thought she probably never would. But surprisingly enough that didn't bother her. She knew the Doctor would be in her room waiting for her when she got out. She knew he'd been in there for her, incase she needed to talk. And when she was ready to talk she'd get out of the tub and go to her room, but for now, she was just relaxing in the warm water, thinking.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

He sat on her bed and waited, she had been in the tub for over an hour now but he knew the TARDIS would keep the water warm as long as she wanted. He could feel just how happy the ship was to have Rose back in one piece. He sometimes wondered who was more attached to Rose, him or his ship. That thought made him smile as he leaned back in her chair, his feet resting on her bedside table. He had walked around her room when he first got there. There were a few changed things, and a few totally new things. Her wardrobe was so different. He found himself missing her hoodie and jeans sometimes and it made he more aware of how she must have felt the first time he changed. It also made him understand the black leather jacket hanging in the back of her closet. All the photos were the same, her mum, Mickey, him. There were lots of him, candid photos she had taken when he was under the control panel fixing something, or him sitting in the library his glasses on and his nose in a book. There were other pictures of him too, the other him, his ninth form as Rose called it. He stood up and walked over to the wall covered in picture.

There was one he remembered very clearly, he had his hands up, trying to hid his face from view, there was some kind of green goo all over him, and he could almost hear Rose laugh as she took the picture. She too had been covered in goo but he hadn't gotten a picture of it. There were two pictures of his ninth form, Jack and her, one right before satellite 5. And there were some of just her and him, one that Jack had taken of him chasing her, she had his leather jacket and wouldn't give it back to him. He chuckled at the memory, all these memories pinned to a cork board wall. It hadn't been there when she moved into this room, it took up the whole wall though so he didn't think _Rose_ had put it there.

"I like my pictures" he heard Rose say from behind him. She closed the door behind her and walked over to him slipping her hand into his as she too looked at the pictures. "I like this one a lot though" She said pointing to a picture Jack must have taken, it was the two of them, sitting in the captains chair, both of them fast asleep.

"That was right after-

"The three headed octopus that tried to eat Jack" Rose finished a bright smile on her face. "If I remember right you got a bit of a gash on your side and wouldn't let me look at it till because I had hurt my ankle and you wanted me to sit down. Then you feel asleep on me" She said poking him in the side.

"I don't believe that's the way it went" He told her sternly, a huge smile on his face kinda ruined the affect.

"That's how I remember it" Rose nodded her head as she walked back over to her bed shivering a little.

"Cold?" He asked walking over with her wishing the light mood could stay. But he knew she needed to talk, and the sooner the better. She shook her head as she sat down on her bed.

"It's a little...odd" She confessed, not totally sure that was the right word. "But I've never really known me as just me in this body. It was always me and her, and now, now it feels like I have to start all over" She let out a breath in a rush of air and looked up at him. The Doctor nodded his head, he hadn't really expected that, of course he wasn't really sure what he _had_ expected.

"Do you, feel different then you did before?" He asked sitting down next to her when she patted the spot on her left.

"You see, that's the thing, I'm not sure. I mean when I woke up that first time how much of what I was feeling was _I_ feeling and how much was her?"

"Ok, well, lets start with this, how do you feel now?" He asked taking her hand in his and running his thumb over the top of her hand a very endearing look on his face as he looked into her eyes. She sighed then closed her eyes and took slow deep breaths taking in everything around her, the hum of the ship, the smell of the Doctor and the feel of her hand in his. Everything was new and everything was old. It didn't make any sense in her head but to her heart it was perfectly clear. She squeezed his hand and opened her eyes, there was a bit of clarity there now and the Doctor smiled.

"I feel at home" She said looking around her room, everything still looked right to her. All the pictures were still just right and the clothes hanging in the closet still looked good to her. There was nothing in her room that made her think Carivina may have influenced her about it. And _nothing_ felt alien about her room.

"It was all me" She uttered, the surprised very evident in her voice. "I thought, something would be her, but its not"

"That's because she didn't influence you, she had control of your body not your mind" The Doctor assured her with a gentle squeeze and a grin.

"She influenced my mind" Rose argued looking a little concerned. "She had control of my moods, I was snappy and mean."

"I don't think that was you, I think it was little bits of her breaking though without you realizing, she only had a little control, that's why there not blank spots." He told her a reassuring look on his face. Rose still felt unsure, but she knew he was right. Nothing about her was the lest bit Carivina. She breathed a sigh of relief at the realization and leaned her head against his shoulder. They sat that way for a long while, both just happy she was ok.

"So, were to next Doctor?" She asked after a while. She could feel the chuckle that came out of him as he looked down at her, she met his eyes upside-down, her head still of his shoulder. "Well?"

"You know, there is a place I've always wanted to show you" He told her, her head came up off her shoulder and she looked very curious.

"Really?" She asked the excitement growing with the prospect of a new adventure. "Where?"

"Well, I guess you'll just have to wait and see" He said standing up pulling her with him.

"Is it someplace exciting?" She asked pulling him from the room.

"Nope" He said a very serious look on his face. "Totally dull" He said a tiny smirk breaking through the facade.

"Right" Rose nodded her head a sarcastic smile on her face. "Come on, I'll get Jack you go set the coordinates"

"Alright" he agreed then she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

"I'll meet you back in the control room" She flashed him a bright smile and then turned and ran towards jacks room.

-o-o-o-o-o-

"Jack, the Doctors got a surprise destination for us" Rose called when she saw that his door was open. "He wont tell me where we're going but- She stopped when she rounded into his room. He was bent over his bed a knapsack open on top. He was putting his clothes into it. "What are you doing?" She demanded walking into his room. He turned around and flashed her his trademark smile, bright and a little cheese.

"I just..." The smile faltered a little and he sighed. "I have a few things I want to take care of"

"You're leaving?" She asked, her buoyant mood dropping quickly.

"Just for a little while, I promise" he said turning back to the bag to close it up. "You two are going to need some time for, things" He smirked at her and she blushed a little.

"But I don't want you to go, neither does the Doctor" She told him wondering what she'd done to make him think they wanted him to go.

"I know" He said nodding his head. "I know you don't" He walked over to her and took her hand. "I just have something's I need to do and-

"We could help" Rose assured him nodding her head.

"This is just..." He trailed off and smiled at her. "Something I have to do myself, ok?"

"But you'll be back?" She asked looking him in the eyes.

"You couldn't keep me away" He assured her nodding.

"How long?" She asked fighting back the tears. She wouldn't not cry, he was coming back. This wasn't forever, she wouldn't cry.

"A few months" He told her smiling, but Rose could see through the smile.

"A few?" She asked skeptically. "How many is a few?"

"Four, six tops" he said squeezing her hand. "It'll fly by, you'll never even miss me"

"Promise you'll be careful with, whatever it is?" She asked needing his reassurance, she couldn't stand to lose him again.

"I promise" he said leaning over and kissing her on the check. "As long as you promise to take care of yourself on all your adventures."

"Promise" Rose agreed nodding her head a small smile on her face. He picked up his bag from by his feet and the two of them walked out of his room.

"It'll be here when you come back" She said looking back at his door as they walked away.

"I know" He said nodding his head. He put his arm around her shoulders and she leaned into him as they walked.

"So, when will we meet back up?"

"I'm not sure" He said smiling at her. "We could meet anywhere"

"Have you ever been to The Ice Islands of Tantina?" She asked smiling at him. It was a place kinda of like Iceland on earth, named after ice but lush green forests and long warm beaches. Rose had loved it and wouldn't mind going again.

"Once or twice, lots of very interesting people there" he told her wiggling his eyebrows as they rounded a corner. Rose laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Ok, well in six months then, we'll meet at Tantina in..." She looked up at him a little concerned. "How will you get around? I mean, do you have another time machine stashed away somewhere?"

"You could say that" Jack chuckled lightly nodding his head. "Don't worry about it, when should we meet?"

"Lets see, hum..." Rose thought about when she and the Doctor had been there. "It was 2543 when the Doctor and I were there, that's according to the human calendar of course. So lets say, 2548. There was a meteorite shower the night we were there, it was beautiful. The Doctor says they happen every five years, so lets make it 2548, July 8th."

"Ok, that sounds great" Jack agreed nodding his head as they walked into the control room.

"Going somewhere?" The Doctor asked looking up from the control panel a knowing smile on his face.

"Yeah, I have a few things I need to take care of" Jack said putting the knapsack down. "Mind giving me a ride to 2113, earth, London?" He asked and Rose saw something pass over the Doctor's face that worried her, then it was gone.

"Will do" he told him a smile on his face as he turned back to the control panel.

"Did you get everything?" Rose asked looked down at his bag, she hated saying good bye so soon but she was going to put on a smile, she'd see him again soon.

"Everything I'll need for this" He assured her bending down and grabbing his bag. "Stay out of any big trouble ok? And don't have to much fun without me"

"We will, and we wont" Rose assured him a small smirk on her face. "Be careful ok?" She asked before she threw her arms around him in a bear hug.

"I will" He said nodding his head. They stayed like that for a long few moments.

"We're here" The Doctor said looking up at them. Rose pulled away from Jack and forced a smile onto her face.

"Stay out of trouble ok Jack?" The Doctor told him sternly as Jack walked over to him.

"Will do" Jack said nodding his head. He reached out as if to shake the Doctors hand. The Doctor took his hand and was immediately pulled into a hug.

"Oi!" The Doctor said pulling away quickly.

"Sorry" Jack said smirking. "Couldn't help myself" He turned back to Rose and she laughed. "Got you hands full now don't you?"

"Don't I know it" Rose said laughing as well now. "See you soon Jack"

"Soon" Jack assured her walking to the door. He opened it, turned back and smiled and then was gone.

"He pinched me" The Doctor said looking a little shocked by this. Rose was surprised, this was Jack they were talking about here.

"You sound surprised" Rose said laughter in her eyes. She was sad to see Jack go, but she knew he'd be back. And this was a time machine and six months would go by in a flash. And until then she had the Doctor and the ship all to herself and they had some time to make up for. "I mean, you are pretty pinchable" She told him laughing at the look on his face.

"Think its funny do you?" He asked taking a step towards here. "You know I've just thought of something, I wounded where you're ticklish now"

"No" Rose said shaking her head taking a step away from him. "You stay away from me" She told him laughter bubbling up inside of her.

"Come on, aren't you even the lest bit curious?" He asked a very innocent smile on his face.

"Not even the slightest" Rose told him shaking her head as he continued to stalk towards her. "Doctor" She warned as he got closer. "No" She half said half laughed.

"Well, I'm curious" he said as he got close enough to touch her. He reached out with both hands and tickled her sides. She held in the laughter and shook her head.

"Nope, oh well we'll just- She stopped as a wave of laughter over took her.

"Ah" The Doctor said laughing himself as he found another spot. "There's one"

"Doctor" Rose giggled as she wiggled trying to break free. "S-s-top" She cried as he found another spot on her lower back. Finally she broke free and took two giant steps back.

"You'll never catch me now" She challenged shooting off down the corridors, laughter drifted back as she ran. The Doctor smirked looked at the door and wished Jack luck on whatever he was doing. Then he turned and ran after Rose, who had a nice head start now.

The End...?

A/N- Ok, so what do you think? I have a sequel in mind so don't fret, you will find out what Jacks up to. I hope you all liked it and I'm sorry it took me so long to get it out. I hope it was worth the wait! Thanks for reading. Lily


End file.
